Shattering the Skies Above
by Kumo no Shinigami
Summary: The prophecy speaks of a boy. A boy who becomes a demon, with the power of a God. A boy destined to bring peace. But will this peace come through salvation, or destruction?
1. Chapter 1

Attention all. I have decided to rewrite the first two chapters of this story. I wasn't very happy with the way it turned out, so I decided to improve. Well, here you go.

Chapter One: LiberateKonohagakure no sato: Oct 10

In the village of Konohagakure no sato, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a young Uzumaki Naruto was making his way home from his first day at the Konoha Ninja Academy. While he was only seven years old, two years younger than the usual academy entry age, the Hokage had been willing to make an exception for young Naruto. As he walked through the back alleys of the village, Naruto thought back to the day he had convinced the Hokage to let him attend.

Flashback: Three weeks ago

Naruto was walking to the Hokage tower to collect his monthly check. You see, most of the village despised Naruto. Every day the villagers would glare at him, curse at him or shout insults such as "monster", "demon brat", and "fox child". Some of the braver ones would get together and beat him, sometimes to the point of unconsciousness before the Hokage and his ANBU would show up and arrest them.

So, it came as little surprise when Naruto was kicked out of the orphanage at age four. When the Hokage had found out, he had been furious. But there was little he could do about it, as Naruto was classified as a civilian, and therefore fell under the jurisdiction of the civilian council, who hated him viciously for what he contained.

Naruto had no idea why he was hated so much. Unbeknownst to him, he was the container of the mightiest of the Bijuu, and Lord of all demons, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, which had attacked the village on the day of Naruto's birth. The Yondaime Hokage, widely revered as the strongest shinobi in the world, had chosen him to seal the attacking Kyuubi in, at the cost of his own life. His last wish had been for Naruto to be seen as a hero by the villagers.

However, it was not to be. The Sandaime Hokage, having taken up the Hokage title again after the death of the Yondaime, announced to the village that the Kitsune had been sealed away into a child, at the cost of the Yondaime's life.

Their reaction was not what he had expected. They had immediately called for the child's blood, blaming him for the death of the Yondaime and calling him, "the Kyuubi reborn."

After Naruto was kicked out of the orphanage, he had been given an apartment and a monthly allowance of 10,000 ryo. It was enough to buy him food for a month and to replace any of his possessions, few as they were, should they happened to get damaged. The check had originally been sent to Naruto's apartment every month, but that stopped after it kept getting stolen out of his mailbox.

Which is why he was currently on his way to the Hokage tower. However, since he was busy thinking about his up coming birthday and where he should hide from the annual mobs this year, he failed to notice that he had walked straight into the market district. Naruto typically avoided this area of the village unless necessary, for this was where most of his beatings occurred. He began to get nervous as he noticed the angry glares he was getting.

"How dare that demon show its face around here…"

"Let's go teach it a lesson."

This statement made several civilians murmur in agreement. Naruto watched in fear as a group of seven civilians walked towards him with malicious looks on their faces. Just as they were about to corner him against the wall of a shop, two ANBU, one with a dog mask and gravity-defying silver hair, and one with a weasel mask and medium length black hair, dropped in front of the crowd off of a rooftop, where they had been observing Naruto.

"Alright folks, just move along before we decide to make some arrests." Said the one in the dog mask.

"Yes, we'd hate to have to use force, now wouldn't we?" remarked the weasel-masked ANBU in a tone that made it clear he would love to use force against them.

"Ah, erm, yes ANBU-san, of c-course. No trouble here." Stuttered the civilian in front nervously, as the group of people dispersed.

"Good. You all have a nice day now."

Naruto watched this interaction with relief clear on his face. He had been expecting another beating for his careless wandering. Turning to face him, the weasel-masked ANBU spoke, "Well, Naruto-kun, now that they're gone, we'd better escort you to the Hokage tower."

Naruto nodded and said, "Thank you for saving me. I thought I was gonna get beat up again."

The dog-masked ANBU only laughed, "No need to thank us Naruto-kun. We're glad to help. Let's get to the tower."

Naruto nodded, and with that both ANBU put their hand on Naruto's shoulder and all three of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hokage's office

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, was sitting at his desk filling out some paperwork, when suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared in front of his desk, making the old man jump.

Out of this smoke came two ANBU, along with Naruto. Sarutobi was confused. He had not sent anyone to get Naruto. "Naruto-kun, may I ask why you are in the company of these two ANBU?"

Naruto enthusiastically responded, "They saved me from getting beat up, Jiji! It was so cool! They dropped down out of nowhere right before I got attacked. They scared those mean people off real good!"

Sarutobi sighed. The attacks always got more frequent towards October. It was something he had tried to discourage in the villagers, but they were too set in their hatred. He pitied them. "Is this true Inu?" asked the Hokage.

"Yes Hokage-sama. When we saw him enter the market district, we followed on the rooftops to make sure he stayed safe. Fortunately, we were able to prevent an attack."

The aged Hokage nodded at this while taking a whiff of his pipe. "Excellent. Well done, both of you. Take this note to my secretary, and she will give you each payment for a B-rank mission." He said as he handed them a note with his signature on it.

Each of the ANBU thanked the Hokage before saying goodbye to Naruto and walking out the door. "Now then Naruto-kun, let's get to business, shall we?" said Sarutobi with a chuckle.

"Um…what was I here for again?"

Sarutobi sweatdropped. "Your monthly check, remember?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh heh…oh yeah. I guess all the excitement made me forget. Sorry Jiji."

The old man chuckled as he handed Naruto a scroll. "That's just like you to get caught up in the moment like that Naruto-kun. Anyway here's the usual 10,000, plus a little extra so that you can buy yourself something nice."

"Wow, thanks Jiji! I'm gonna go buy a set of kunai so I can practice to be the greatest ninja ever!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Hold on there, Naruto-kun. You're still too young to think about becoming a ninja. However, if you wish, you can enroll when you reach the proper age."

Naruto pouted and whined, "But Jiji! That's such a long time! Besides, if I enter the academy, I won't be able to get beat up as easily. I want to be able to defend myself!"

Sarutobi puffed on his pipe while thinking 'Hmm. I can't really deny the boy a chance to defend himself, can I?' After several minutes of contemplation the Hokage finally agreed. "Very well, Naruto-kun, I cannot in good conscience let these attacks on you continue without at least giving you a way to defend yourself. Let me finish signing these papers, and then we'll go to the academy to enroll you in the upcoming classes."

"Yay!" Naruto cheered. "I'm going to be the best ninja ever!"

"I'm sure you will Naruto-kun. I'm sure you will."

Flashback end

After that the old man and the blond ninja-to-be made the trip to the academy to enroll Naruto in the classes that would be starting on his birthday, less than a month away. Naruto was a bit wary of going out on the day when he was most likely to be attacked, but he spent the entire three weeks practicing with the full set of kunai and shuriken that the Hokage had given him.

Before he knew it three weeks had come and gone and he had started his first day at the academy. He had met his new sensei, Umino Iruka, and all of his classmates, who were all two years older than him. Apparently, their parent's dislike had rubbed off on their children, none of whom went near or spoke to Naruto. The rest of the day passed without incident, leaving Naruto excited to start learning to be a ninja.

So, we currently see Naruto heading back to his apartment through Konoha's back alleys, hoping not to be spotted by anyone. But it seemed that luck was not on his side this night. As he rounded a corner, he saw a group of ten to fifteen drunken chunin who were known to hate him very much.

Naruto quickly ducked behind a dumpster, praying that he wouldn't be found. 'Oh please don't let them have spotted me…please.' He thought. Unfortunately, no such luck.

"Hey!" one of them shouted. "Did you see that? That was the demon brat! Let's get it!"

The rest of them shouted in agreement.

Naruto, for his part, simply screamed and began to run away. Not looking where he was going however, he soon found himself at a dead end. "No! Stupid wall! Get out of my way!" he yelled frantically as he began to pound on it with his fists.

"There it is! Down here!"

Naruto screamed in pain as he felt a fist connect with his face.

"Ha! Take that demon! You'll die here tonight!" the one who hit him shouted.

"Please! I didn't do anything!" Naruto screamed.

This only made the ninja madder. "Don't lie to us, demon! You know what you did! You killed my family, and many more innocents! And now you will DIE!" he yelled as he thrust a kunai into Naruto's side. The others soon followed suit, stabbing, punching, and kicking any part of him they could reach.

Naruto's screams of pain were drowned out by the sounds of the festival close by.

Hokage's office

'Hmm." Sarutobi wondered to himself, 'I hope Naruto made it home all right. I'll check on him.' He pulled out his scrying orb and focused on Naruto. What he found shocked and enraged him beyond all reason. There were fifteen of his chunin,_ his chunin_, stabbing and beating the motionless form of Naruto. It looked like this had been going on for a few minutes.

With a furious shout he leapt out of his chair and shouted, "ANBU! With me!" and jumped out his open window with five ANBU in pursuit. As he jumped from rooftop to rooftop at speeds only a kage was capable of reaching, he could only hope he had not once again failed the boy he saw as his grandson.

Back alleys

Even though Naruto had passed out soon after the beating began, still his attackers persisted. They had not noticed that he had stopped breathing.

It was to this that the Hokage and his ANBU arrived. Fifteen chunin beating and stabbing one helpless, unconscious, and probably lifeless seven year old. This last thought sent the Hokage into a mindless fury. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? YOU ARE ATTACKING AN INNOCENT CHILD!" He screamed at the drunken attackers.

One of the chunin turned around. "Hokage-sama!" he greeted cheerfully, "We've done it! We've killed the demon!"

With that the Hokage let out a scream of primal rage, and punched the chunin so hard in the head that he literally caused it to explode.

His shout drew the attention of the remaining fourteen chunin who all turned to face him with terrified looks on their faces.

"ANBU! Take these bastards to the middle of the festival and keep them there. They will be publicly executed as soon as I get there."

"H-hai, Hokage-sama." Stuttered an ANBU who were all shocked at the level of violence and anger their kindly old leader was displaying.

After they departed Sarutobi walked over to Naruto and was immediately overcome with a sense of great despair and grief. Naruto lay there, with several dozen kunai sticking out of his torso, both arms broken and bent at unnatural angles with bits of bone sticking out, senbon needles stuck in each of his eyes, throat slit open, left foot barely hanging on to his leg by some skin and muscle, stomach cut open with his entrails hanging out, and some one had cut out his tongue.

And yet though it seemed that he would be dead Sarutobi could detect the barest hint of chakra in his body. When he sensed that he immediately stood up, shouting "Naruto-kun!"

Sarutobi gasped. He needed to get to a hospital ASAP. He created several shadow clones to go deal with the chunin, while he himself scooped Naruto up and rushed as fast as he could to a hospital.

Naruto's mindscape

When Naruto regained consciousness, he was laying in a pool of water about as deep as his ankle. ' They threw me in a sewer?' he thought. ' Oh well, at least they didn't kill me. Speaking of which, I could've sworn they stabbed me a couple times before I passed out. Where are the wounds? I heal fast, but not _that_ fast.'

After picking himself up, he took a look around. He was in some kind of sewer, and a crappy one at that. There were cracks all along the walls, water on the floor, and leaky pipes everywhere.

He took a closer look at the pipes. One of them was a big red one, and it had a smaller blue one next to it, and they both seemed to be glowing. The pipes also had cracks running across them, and the liquid they dripped seemed to glow as well.

When Naruto turned around he saw a pulsating red glow, which seemed to call out to him. He felt compelled to follow it, so he did. He followed through many twists and turns, and after what seemed like hours, emerged into a large room with a cavernous ceiling, and what looked like a gigantic gate held shut by…a piece of paper? Naruto moved closer to the gate, trying to make out what the tag said. He got close enough to read it, and saw that it read "seal" in kanji. While he was staring at it though, a gigantic pair of blood red eyes with slit pupils opened right in front of him.

"So, my jailer finally decides to pay me a visit, eh?" Naruto heard a deep, rumbling voice say from inside the gate.

"W-whose there?" Naruto asked fearfully. "Who are you?"

The voice let out a deep chuckle. **"You are wise to fear me, human. After all, I am the greatest demon ever known."**

As he heard this, Naruto's eyes widened. " T-that can't be true!" He stammered. "The greatest demon ever known was the Kyuubi, and its-"

"**Dead?" **the beast interjected, **"Ha! As if a mere human could kill me. No, I cannot be killed. I was sealed away. Inside you, specifically."**

"What! How? The Yondaime… why me?" naruto yelled as his mind tried to process the fact that he had an ancient demon sealed inside him.

"**The yellow-haired bastard had some honor, it seems. He would not ask another family to sacrifice their child, so he used his own."**

Naruto's eyes widened in realization. "But that would make me…Jiji knew. He knew and he never told me!"

Naruto turned on Kyuubi and shouted, "This is all your fault! You're the reason he's dead! Why? Why did you have to do this?"

Kyuubi glared at Naruto and said, **"Konoha attacked me first. They killed my family. They started this! Not me!" **By the end, Kyuubi was standing at his full eight hundred foot height, shouting at the frightened boy in front of him.

"No…Konoha wouldn't do that! Konoha wouldn't attack you like that!" naruto yelled at the huge demon before him.

"Naïve child! Of course they would! Humans fear any power greater than themselves that they don't control. It was their fear, and their greed that caused them to attack me. And I WILL make them pay. Well, I would have, had you not gotten yourself killed."

Naruto's head shot up when he heard that. "Wait, what do you mean killed! I feel fine!" he yelled.

"**Well, you're here for a reason, you know. When you were attacked, your mind retreated here to escape the pain. They may not have actually killed you, but even with my healing, I'm afraid there's no way you'll survive, which means I'll die along side you.**"

"Huh? What do you mean? Why are you dying?" Asked Naruto confusedly.

The seal that your father used to seal me inside of you was designed so that I would die alongside you."

"Huh. You seem awfully calm about dying."

"**Calm?" **Kyuubi snorted. "**Not at all. I'm absolutely furious that I won't be able to exact my revenge on this pathetic village. I just have more self control than I used to."**

Naruto sat glumly on the cold, wet ground and began to look back on the life he'd lived. There weren't many good times that he could remember, but the ones he could were the best times of his life. He came to the conclusion that he didn't want to die. He couldn't do that to the few people that cared about him. The Hokage. The people at Ichiraku's. Even his new sensei Iruka had been nice to him.

Naruto began to tear up saying, "Kyuubi…I don't want to die."

"**Yeah, me either, kit. Me either."**

**Sarutobi's shadow clones**

As the Hokage was rushing Naruto to the hospital, his shadow clones went to the center of the festival to deal with the chunin that had attacked Naruto.

When they arrived, the saw the chunin being held by the five ANBU in the middle of a large group of curious people. "Attention!" One of the Hokage's clones yelled. "These fourteen men have been brought here to be executed for the crime of attacking and nearly killing Uzumaki Naruto."

This announcement brought shouts of anger from the crowd, who were all people who hated and despised Naruto. "Silence!" Sarutobi's clone commanded. "These men have committed an act of treason by harming a civilian of this village with intent to kill him. A child no less! Therefore, their execution will be carried out immediately. ANBU, begin."

And with that, the five ANBU began to decapitate each of the chunin, one by one. When it was over the Hokage's clones let out a sigh, before ordering the ANBU to clean up the mess and dispelling themselves.

With the real Sarutobi

As the aged and weary Hokage received the memories from his clones, he thought to himself, 'These people need to learn that attacks on Naruto will not be tolerated. It was the only thing to do.'

As he came upon the hospital with Naruto in his arms, he burst through the doors of the emergency room and yelled, " Doctor! Where's a doctor?"

A doctor in a white coat quickly walked up to him and asked, "What's the problem, Hokage-sama?"

The Hokage replied, "This child is in extreme need of medical attention. He's barely holding on to life."

The doctor looked at Naruto's motionless form, and back at Sarutobi, and said, "Are you sure he's alive? He doesn't look like he's breathing."

"I'm sure, just help him already!" The Hokage shouted.

The doctor nodded and took Naruto from the Hokage's arms.

The doctor took Naruto to an operating room and set him down on the table. A green glow appeared around his hands, and he ran them over Naruto's body. "Well, Hokage-sama, aside from the damage you can see, both of his lungs have been punctured multiple times, almost every bone in his body is broken or fractured, he has a big hole in his stomach, one of those senbon is almost poking his brain, and he's been stabbed in the heart. It seems his 'tenant' is the only thing keeping him alive right now, and I don't know how much longer that will last. I'm sorry, but at this point it'll take a miracle to save him."

Sarutobi bowed his head with tears in his eyes. 'Naruto, Minato, I've failed you.'

Suddenly, a bright red glow appeared in the room. Sarutobi looked up, and saw that the glow was coming from Naruto!

**Meanwhile, in Naruto's mindscape**

Naruto and Kyuubi were sitting quietly, waiting for death to take them, when suddenly, a flash of purple light appeared in the room. Both Naruto and Kyuubi turned to look at it warily.

Out of the flash appeared a spectre-like figure, with purple skin, and long white hair with a tanto in between his teeth. Kyuubi bowed respectfully to the figure and spoke, **"Greetings, Shinigami-sama."**

**Author's Note**

**Okay, well there's the new-and improved chapter one. I should have the rewritten second chapter up right after I post this one, and a third chapter soon after. Interesting little fact, the title of each chapter will be the title of whatever song I think goes best with the chapter. This one was Liberate by Disturbed. Check it out if you haven't heard it.**

**Don't fear the Reaper, **

**Kumo no Shinigami**


	2. Chapter 2

Yo, here it is, the new-and improved chapter two. To those who read the previous version of this story and liked it, I apologize. It wasn't turning out how I wanted it, so I rewrote the chapters I had already posted, and deleted the two I hadn't posted yet. Well anyway, on with the show!

**Previous chapter:**

_Naruto and Kyuubi were sitting quietly, waiting for death to take them, when suddenly, a flash of purple light appeared in the room. Both Naruto and Kyuubi turned to look at it warily. _

_Out of the flash appeared a spectre-like figure, with purple skin, and long white hair with a tanto in between his teeth. Kyuubi bowed respectfully to the figure and spoke, __**"Greetings, Shinigami-sama."**_

Chapter Two: Castaway

"**Might I assume that you are here to take us to the other side?" **Kyuubi asked.

"No." the Shinigami spoke, surprising both Naruto and Kyuubi. "It is Kami's will that the boy be sent back."

"But Shinigami-sama, his wounds are too great! Surely not even your power could revive him."

"True," the Shinigami replied, "It is beyond my power. But there is another way."

Kyuubi's eyes widened. "You don't mean to-"

The Shinigami nodded. That is exactly what I mean to do. You will give this boy all of your power. He will be the next Kyuubi. The Realms are in turmoil without the influence of the Bijuu. You must do as I command, and quickly. There is not much time."

Naruto then decided to speak up. "Hey! Did you forget about me? Don't I get a say in this?"

The Death God shook his head. "I'm afraid not. This is the will of Kami. It must be done. It is the only way to preserve balance."

Kyuubi then asked "And what happens to me? Do I just die? I don't like this idea very much."

The Shinigami answered, "Your soul will remain with the boy. He will need someone to teach him, after all."

As Kyuubi grumbled about "blond gakis that never showed any respect", naruto asked, "So what does this mean? I become a demon?"

The Shinigami chuckled and said, "Don't make it seem so bad. Demons aren't the vicious monsters that humans think they are. Well, I must be going now. Brace yourselves for the pain."

Naruto hastily bowed to the Shinigami as he vanished in a swirl of light.

And with that, Naruto's world went white.

Back at the Hospital

Sarutobi watched in awe as the glow around Naruto got brighter and brighter. He tried to move towards Naruto, but was pushed back by some unseen force. Suddenly the glow vanished into thin air, and Naruto along with it.

Sarutobi began to panic. Naruto had just vanished without a trace. Not even the blood that had been everywhere remained. It was as if he had never existed.

'Naruto-kun…what has happened to you?'

Border of Hi no Kuni

Naruto knew only pain. Blinding, searing, white-hot pain. It felt like he was being torn apart, only to be put back together again, over and over again. Finally after an eternity of pain, Naruto opened his eyes. He took a deep gasp of air. Had he been holding his breath? He couldn't remember.

He was in a large clearing, surrounded by trees, with a river running through it. As he stumbled over to get a drink of water, he took inventory of his body. Now that the pain was gone, he felt better than he ever had. The sights, the smells, the sounds! They were all so vivid. To Naruto, it felt like experiencing the world for the first time.

All the new sensations made Naruto's tails twitch. Wait…tails? Naruto yelped and turned around, seeing nine red, furry, eight-foot long tails growing out of the base of his spine. He felt the top of his head, and sure enough, he felt a pair of fox ears on top of his head.

He looked at his reflection in the surface of the river, and saw that his eyes were now like Kyuubi's, red irises with slit pupils. His whisker marks were deeper now, too. His baby fat was gone and his muscles had become more defined, like an athlete. He had grown quite a bit, as well. He estimated his height to be at least five-foot-three, as opposed to his previous four-foot-even.

He was able to see these changes to his body due to the fact that he was wearing no clothes. When he noticed this fact, he yelped and dived behind a bush. 'Where the hell did my clothes go!' he yelled in his mind.

He was surprised to hear a voice respond, **'Ow, not so loud, kit. My head is pounding from that massive power drain."**

Naruto jumped. 'Kyuubi, is that you?'

'**No, dumbass, it's the Ghost of Christmas Past. Ugh, I feel like I drank all the sake in the world. Anyway, to answer your question, your clothes were vaporized by the sheer chakra output caused by your transformation. Urk, this is too difficult. Just focus your mind on appearing in here so we can talk face to face.' **

Naruto focused and soon found himself inside his mind.

However, he noticed several changes. First, they were no longer in a sewer. The place they were in was a large open field, underneath a blue, cloudless sky. The second change was that Kyuubi was no longer behind the giant gate. It was gone.

"Where did the seal go?" Naruto asked confusedly. "And what happened to this place?"

Which brings us to the third and final change. No longer was Kyuubi an eight hundred foot tall fox. In his place stood a regal-looking man with long red hair, wearing what looked like blood red samurai armor. Well, he would look regal, if he didn't also look like he was suffering the world's worst hangover. He had two fox ears on the top of his head, three dark whisker marks on each cheek, and blood-red eyes with slit pupils. Looking behind the man, Naruto expected to see nine waving tails. Instead he saw nothing.

"Wow, What the hell happened to this place? And to you, for that matter?" Naruto asked.

"**Well, as for this place, once I was free of the seal I decided to redecorate. And me, well, this is just my human form. All intelligent demons are able to make themselves look human. Haven't you been wondering why you're not a giant fox right now?"**

"Whatever. So what's with all these changes to my body?" Naruto asked.

"**Well,"** Kyuubi explained, "**Your body had to change at the most basic level possible, to make sure that you survived absorbing my power. So as a result, your body was improved drastically. Your healing factor has increased to the point where you can regenerate entire limbs in seconds. You've lost all your baby fat, as well as grown a few inches. I'd say you're about five-foot-three now, as you can see, as opposed to your previous four. Your muscles and skeleton have been made fundamentally denser, increasing their strength without increasing their actual size. Also your DNA, as well as your chakra, has been changed to that of a demon. Your brainpower was also increased, meaning you'll learn about five times faster. Essentially, you are stronger, faster, smarter, and better overall than you were before." **

Naruto whistled. "Wow. That's a lot to take in. So, I'm really a demon now. It certainly feels a lot better than I expected. So, where do we go from here? Also, where can I get some clothes?"

"**We'll go to Makai, kit. The demons will want to see their new ruler. Also the Kitsune clan will want to meet you. And as for your clothes, just make some out of chakra. They should last you long enough." **Kyuubi answered.

Naruto nodded, and was about to leave when Kyuubi said, **"Oh, I almost forgot. Don't call me Kyuubi anymore. It's not my name, it's just a title, and that title is yours now .My name is Kitane. Akahiro Kitane."**

"Oh, okay. I didn't realize you had a name. Well, I should get going. Bye." Naruto then faded from his mind.

Back outside

When naruto woke up, he closed his eyes and concentrated on shaping his new demonic chakra into clothes. To his surprise, it was easy for him to shape the chakra and solidify it.

'Kitane, what did I just do?' he asked.

'**What, solidifying the chakra? That's just one of your many new abilities.' **Kitane answered.

Naruto asked confusedly, 'Abilities? What abilities?'

"I'll explain later. Right now, we need to get going to Makai before anyone comes to investigate the large amounts of chakra that have been released in this area."

'Oh, okay. So, how do we get there, anyway?'

'Easy, kit. Just close your eyes and visualize a door. Now visualize yourself opening and walking through the door while focusing chakra.' Kitane explained.

Naruto did as Kitane instructed, and soon felt a strange feeling as if he was walking through a veil. When he opened his eyes, he was standing at the edge of a forest. But this was like no forest he had ever seen. The trees and other plants that he could see were far more exotic looking than any he had ever seen. In the distance, he could hear the call of some strange animal.

As naruto gazed around in wonderment, he asked Kitane, "What are these plants? I've never seen anything like them."

"Well, simply put, vegetation in Makai is much different than on Earth. You'll be seeing a lot of things you aren't used to while you're here. As well as the many diverse species of E and D-class demons that roam the wilderness." Kitane replied.

"Huh?" Naruto asked in confusion. "What do you mean by E and D class?"

"Much like shinobi, demons are ranked in order of their strength. D and E-class demons are much the same as animals on Earth, living in the wilderness. They also have animal-level intelligence. E-class demons are the weakest, and don't pose much of a threat to anything due to their peaceful natures, though they will attack if provoked. A strong genin could kill one without too much trouble. They are often herbivores, although not always. Sometimes they prey on those weaker than themselves.

D-class demons serve as the predators to E-class demons, and other D-class that they can kill. They are usually aggressive, and will attack unless frightened off. They are usually carnivores, and are about as strong as a mid-level chunin. D-class and below also do not possess the ability to transform into a human form, or travel between worlds.

C-class demons are as intelligent as any other demon, but not as strong. Due to them having the advanced healing capabilities that all higher-level demons possess, they are about as strong as a team of strong jonin.

B-class demons are far stronger and could only be killed by several teams of strong jonin working together, or a Kage.

A-class demons, however, are very strong, and have never been killed by a human. They are about as strong as two high-level Kages working together.

S-class demons, as with A-class, have never been killed by humans, let alone injured. Their healing capabilities are far too great, to the point of being able to regenerate entire limbs in minutes. Not even five Kage level shinobi working if flawless concert with each other could kill one.

Which brings us to the final rank, SS-class. The only demons in existence that are this strong are the Bijuu. Entire civilizations have been ended by the power of the Bijuu. Even today, people still tell stories about those times. Our regeneration is so great, that we literally cannot be killed. We regenerate almost instantly, which is the reason for our higher rank, alongside our massive power." After he finished, Kitane sucked in a huge gasp of air, as he hadn't inhaled during his entire explanation.

"Hmph." Naruto grumbled. "I can't even ask a simple question anymore without you launching into a huge explanation."

"Ha! You think that was long? That was the condensed version!" Kitane laughed.

After Kitane's explanation, Naruto spotted a large five-tailed Kitsune running towards him. When it reached him, it transformed into its human form, an average looking man with brown hair, five tails, and other Kitsune features. He had a sense of utter normalcy about him, as if he was completely incapable of doing something that would seem odd. He reminded Naruto strongly of his former sensei, Iruka.

After he transformed, he approached Naruto an asked, "Who are you? State your business here."

Naruto answered, "My name is Uzu- I mean, Namikaze Naruto, and I am the new Kyuubi. I have come here for reasons that my predecessor has not currently revealed to me."

As naruto said this, a startled look came upon the Kitsune's face. "What? How is that possible?" he then looked behind Naruto, and saw his nine waving tails, before hastily bowing while saluting with his right fist over his heart.

"Forgive me, Kyuubi-sama. I was not aware that a new Kyuubi had been chosen. My name is Reiko. Please allow me to escort you to the city." The newly named Reiko apologized.

Naruto nodded. "Excellent. Let's go. And please, call me Naruto."

"As you wish, Naruto-sama." Reiko replied. He then put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, and the two of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.

In front of the city gate

Naruto and Reiko appeared in front of a large city wall, at least fifty feet high, and around five thick. As Naruto looked at it, he could see that it went on for miles in both directions. There was an iron gate with a Kitsune guard standing by at the entrance. "Reiko, did you find out what that disturbance was?" the guard asked.

Reiko just nodded and indicated toward Naruto. When the guard saw Naruto's tails, he immediately bowed and saluted. "Greetings, Kyuubi-sama." He said respectfully. He then waved Reiko and Naruto through the gate, and they were on their way.

As the two Kitsune walked through the city, naruto gazed in wonderment at the many different species of demon he was seeing. He saw some that looked human, aside from a few different features. He saw things that he previously would have been terrified of, or would never have believed existed.

Soon, they came upon a large gate with a fox's head engraved on it. Reiko then said, "This is the entrance to the Kitsune District. This is where all Kitsune in the City live, as well as any that are visiting from another city or village. However, the Kitsune clan is based here, in the capital city."

They then entered the gate. As they walked through the District, they saw hundreds of Kitsune walking the streets, as well as a few other demons who were there for various reasons. When the Kitsune saw Naruto, they began to cheer. Many of them ran off to tell others.

The houses in the Kitsune district were primarily European-styled homes, such as nice looking houses, or in some cases, even large manors. As they were walking, a thought occurred to Naruto. "Reiko-san, I can't help but notice that there are no signs of poverty here, or anywhere in the rest of the city that I saw. Why is that? Surely in a city this size, there would be some who are poor, correct?"

As they continued to walk, Reiko answered, "Actually, no, Naruto-sama. The well being of our people is very important to us. If anyone does find themselves in a state of poverty, they simply report their situation to the administration building in the city, and they are taken care of until they are able to support themselves. We make sure that no-one is left homeless, or without something to eat."

Naruto was very impressed. "Wow, Reiko-san. That is really amazing. How can you afford to support all those people, though?"

"Well, there aren't that many people to support, really. Truthfully, demons have very little that they need to buy, as most prefer to hunt for themselves, or grow there own food. People often build their own homes as well. So, there is not much need for buying food or homes. However, people do have a need for things such as weapons, and to furnish their homes, among many other things. So it is rare for us to have to support anyone, really. Only a couple of people a year, at most."

Once again, Naruto was impressed. "Wow. Living here must be great. I wish I had grown up here. Not that I still don't have growing to do. I'm only seven after all."

Reiko responded, "Indeed, Naruto-sama. You are quite young, especially for a demon. you have plenty of time to grow here. And yes, life here is well enjoyed by all. Although, it is not just in this city, for though this is the capital of Makai, all other major cities across the world have these measures put into place as well as the smaller towns and villages. These measures were all put into place by your predecessor, several decades ago."

Reiko's comments about him had sparked another question in Naruto's mind. "Reiko-san, forgive me for asking so many questions, but why have we only encountered two children so far? With the size of this city, wouldn't there be many more children running around?" he asked.

Reiko answered, "Well, due to the immortality of demons, children are quite rare. The average is only two or three children every fifty years or so. Due to their scarceness, they are treasured above all else, and to abuse them in any way is a crime punishable by death."

Naruto snorted at the irony.

They soon came upon a huge European style castle, which was the size of several of the largest manors in the District, with four large towers, one at each corner of the castle, and at least six stories. The entire thing was about 10,000 square feet.

Reiko indicated towards the large castle and said, "This is your new home, Naruto-sama.'

Naruto looked back and forth between Reiko and the castle, gaping like a fish. "This is where I'll be living?" he asked.

"Yes, Naruto-sama. This is the home of the clan head, which is you. Therefore, it is now your home. I will now escort you inside, so you can get settled." Reiko replied. They then entered the huge castle.

The castle was even more amazing inside than on the outside. They first entered into a large main entrance that had a floor made of black marble, with many statues and tapestries along the walls. Naruto looked at a particular tapestry and saw that it depicted the Kyuubi, in full fox form, battling a huge army of people, armed with all assortment of weapons. The look of the Kyuubi was absolutely fearsome.

They made their way up a large staircase at the far end of the room, and went through several other large and impressive rooms, before entering a huge library. There were tens- no, hundreds of thousands of books and scrolls. The library had a massive ceiling, and bookshelves that went all the way up.

Sitting at a table in the library was a man with Kitsune features and eight gray tails, as well as gray mid-length hair. He looked up and saw Naruto and Reiko heading towards him. When he saw Naruto, a look of shock passed over his face, before forming into a warm smile. He then bowed and spoke, "Hello, Kyuubi-sama. I am most pleased to see that we once again have a true ruler for our people. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Koaru. I am the one who was appointed to lead the clan in Kitane-sama's absence.'

Naruto nodded and said, "Thank you, and please, call me Naruto."

"Of course, Naruto-sama. Now we should properly introduce you to the rest of the clan, as well as officially inaugurate you as clan head. We can do this immediately, if you wish." Naruto nodded, and asked, "Is there some kind of ceremony to perform?"

"Yes, you must simply take an oath in front of the clan. I will assemble them now.

Naruto thanked him and sat down to wait. While he waited, he decided to talk with Kitane. 'So, Kitane, what will we be doing while we're here?'

Kitane answered, 'We will be teaching you to use your new powers, of course.'

Naruto asked, 'Awesome. Now will you finally tell me what my new powers are?'

Kitane began to explain. **'Every Bijuu has his of her own special abilities. The Ichibi no Tanuki has power over Sand, and the Wind. **

**The Nibi no Nekomata has control over the dead, and a strong Fire alignment. **

**The Sanbi no Kyodaigame has control over aquatic life and the Water element. **

**The Yonbi no Saru has control over the Lava element, as well as strong Earth and Fire abilities as a result. **

**The Gobi no Irukauma has control over the Steam element, as well as Fire and Water alignments. **

**The Rokubi no Namekuji has control over the Water element, and is nearly impossible to damage, due to the fact that it can control the shape of its body. **

**The Nanabi no Kabutomushi has control over insects, and the powerful Dust element, which can grind enemies to dust, as well as Earth, Wind, and Fire elements. **

**The Hachibi no Kyogyu, as the second strongest of the Bijuu, can throw chakra attacks around like candy at a parade. He also has control over the Ink element, as well as Earth and Water alignments. He is extremely resistant to Fire.' **

'**And, finally the Kyuubi no Kitsune, which is you. It is said amongst humans that I had infinite chakra. This is only partially true. While I do have chakra far beyond that of any other living creature, it is not infinite. However, it replenishes so quickly that when I use a human jutsu, it seems that no chakra was used whatsoever. My second ability was the ability to manifest my chakra outside my body, manipulate it, and make it solid. My third ability is absolute control over any kind of fire. This granted me immunity from any kind of fire attacks, as well as the ability to manipulate fire in any way. Also, I have alignments with all five basic elements, and the ability to use the sub-elements. My final ability is the ability that all Kitsune share, which is the ability to create powerful illusions that are extremely difficult to break.'**

Naruto's head was spinning. He would be able to do all that? He could barely contain his excitement. "That is so awesome! When do we start training?" he asked excitedly.

Kitane laughed at Naruto's eagerness and answered**,** **'We'll be starting your training tomorrow. I expect you to train to the brink of exhaustion everyday. It won't be easy to learn to control these abilities. On the up side, however, your new abilities give you perfect chakra control, so we have that. It looks like we'll have to continue this later, kit.'** And he then cut the connection.

Koaru walked back into the room and said, "The clan is assembled, Naruto-sama. It is time for you to take the oath."

Naruto followed him through the large castle, and outside to a balcony on the second level. He was greeted by the faces of close to ten thousand people. "Is this the entire clan?" Naruto asked.

"In this city, yes. Makai is a very large place, Naruto-sama. Word will spread quickly about you though, I am sure."

Koaru then addressed the crowd, "Fellow clansmen! I have wonderful news! For years, our beloved leader was lost to us. But now, a new Kyuubi has been chosen to rule over and protect us! I give you, our new clan head, Naruto-sama!"

At the end of this speech the crowd erupted into cheers. Koaru motioned for them to settle down, and when the cheering stopped, he turned to Naruto and said, "Time to give the oath Naruto-sama. Just repeat after me."

"I, Namikaze Naruto, swear to protect this clan to the best of my ability. I swear to uphold its laws and traditions. I swear to, from this day forth, remain loyal to and ensure the welfare of this clan's members. So swear I, Namikaze Naruto."

After Naruto repeated the oath the crowd once again started to cheer. After Koaru dismissed the crowd, he and Naruto went back inside.

Koaru then said to Naruto, "Well, Naruto-sama, I'm afraid I must bid you farewell. I have matters to attend to." He then bowed to Naruto, before leaving.

Naruto, for his part, was exhausted. He had done so much today. He just wanted to find a bed and lay down. After searching the house for the master bedroom, he curled up on the bed, wrapped his tails around himself, and promptly fell asleep.

FOUR YEARS LATER

The last four years had been eventful for Naruto. In just that relatively short amount of time, he had grown enormously. He was now five-foot-ten, with his long blond and red hair pulled back into a ponytail that reached to the small of his back. He had great muscle tone, muscular, but not huge muscles. More of an athletic build. He wore a deep red muscle shirt underneath a black vest, and black cargo pants with combat boots instead of the sandals that shinobi wore.

He had managed to gain full use of his Bijuu abilities, as well. It wasn't a matter of learning how to access them; so much as it was a matter of learning to control them and how to use them properly in various situations.

Kitane had been a harsh taskmaster, training him, as he had said, to the point of exhaustion, often several times a day due to the small amount of time it took Naruto to get back to full strength. But know this: training any Bijuu, especially the Kyuubi, to the brink of exhaustion was no mean feat.

But today was Naruto's eleventh birthday, the day he was set to leave his new home. He had made several friends over the years. Because of the immortality of demons, children were very rare, and were treasured above all else. The few children that did live in the city, loved to play with Naruto. He would spend any time he could spare telling them stories about Earth, or showing them jutsu he had learnt from Kitane, or had made himself.

He was sad to go, as he had made a home for himself here. Koaru had been like a grandfather to him, always encouraging him during training, and had helped Naruto immensely in the political aspects of ruling a clan. But Kitane was adamant about Naruto leaving. He had said that naruto needed to see the shinobi world, learn all about it, if he was to accomplish his goal.

So he had packed his things, said goodbye to his friends, and had left Kaoru to handle things for a while.

And now, as he walked out of the gate of the city, with people waving goodbye and wishing him luck, he felt ready to begin the next leg of his life's journey.

He opened the portal to Earth, and stepped through.

THREE YEARS LATER

Jiraiya the Gama Sennin was racing toward Konoha as fast as he could. He had been In Rice Country, searching for leads on Orochimaru, when one of his contacts had said that the new Shinobi village that had appeared in the country recently, Otogakure no Sato, was lead by none other than Orochimaru himself. Jiraiya had been able to find and infiltrate one of Orochimaru's bases, where he found files confirming the fact, along with plans for a large-scale invasion of Konoha with Sunagakure no Sato.

As he was making his escape, however, several teams of shinobi, all wearing hitai-ate decorated with a sound note, ambushed him along with a large man with orange hair. The shinobi were easy enough to fight off for someone of Jiraiya's skill, although one of them got a lucky shot with a kunai on his forearm. The blade had apparently been poisoned, since Jiraiya could feel his muscles getting sore very quickly, and was losing control of his chakra.

He managed to dispatch the last of the shinobi, when the large orange haired man who had been sitting back had transformed into something that looked like a monster. He had ferociously attacked Jiraiya, who due to the poison was barely able to defend himself. Deciding to retreat so that he could get these files to Konoha, he quickly dodged a sloppy punch, and gave a fierce uppercut to his opponent's chin, sending him flying back. Jiraiya then threw a smoke bomb on the ground and high-tailed it out of there.

However, when he exited the complex, he looked back to see the large man pursuing him quickly. So Jiraiya, knowing that he had speed on his side, kept running in the direction of Konoha. However, the running sped up the circulation of poison in his bloodstream, slowing him down, and causing him pain. He stumbled on a tree branch, sending him crashing to the ground, where he struggled to get up before his pursuer could catch him.

Before he could get to his feet, the large man entered the clearing, looking like his body was going through a series of rapid changes. When they stopped, the man had a large blade where his arm should be, with a wicked looking elbow spike. "Time to die!" the man shouted gleefully. "Time to kill..kill..KILL! I'll kill you! Bathe in your blood!" he then jumped toward Jiraiya, preparing to cleave him in two, when suddenly, a black-and-red blur appeared out of nowhere and slammed into the large man sending him flying.

The blur revealed itself to be a large man. He wore a black and red trench coat with a hood, and a black facemask covering his face. On the back of the coat was an image of a fox's head surrounded by nine swirling tails in the shape of a spiral. On the right arm was the kanji for the number nine. Underneath the coat he wore a black muscle shirt underneath a dark red vest, like the kind that jonin and chunin wore, which was zipped up. He was about six-foot-three from what Jiraiya could see, and very well built. Slung across his back was what looked to be a nodachi sword, appropriate for the man's height. He wore baggy black pants, and black combat boots. All in all, he was a very intimidating figure.

But that was far from the most surprising thing about the man. He also had nine ten-foot long, blood red, fox tails coming from underneath his coat.

The figure spoke in a calm voice, "Greetings, Jiraiya-san. I was in the area, and I heard this man's deranged yells. I thought I should lend you a hand."

Jiraiya could only stare with wide eyes at the figure in front of him. After the man was done saving his life, Jiraiya was going to be asking him many questions.

By this time, the large orange haired man had returned, although he was clutching his bleeding side, and looking fearfully at the mysterious figure. "Please don't kill me! I don't want to be hurt! I can't fight the monster inside me, it just takes over! Please, don't hurt me."

The stranger replied, "Very well, leave now and take this message to your master: I am coming for him."

The large man nodded quickly and ran off, clutching his side. By this time, Jiraiya had gotten back to his feet and was watching the stranger warily. He asked, "Who are you? Why did you help me? Why do you have those tails?"

The stranger turned to face him, and replied, "Who I am is none of your concern. As for why I saved you, it's what my father would have done, as well as I am headed towards Konoha myself, and have business with the Hokage. That is all I will answer, for now. The rest will be revealed when I reach the Hokage." The man then made a hand seal, and his tails seemingly disappeared.

As the man tried to move toward him, Jiraiya pulled out a kunai and got into a fighting stance. "Now, hold on a second. You're not going anywhere until you answer my questions."

The tall stranger sighed and said, "Jiraiya-san, if I wanted you dead, I would have finished you by now. With that poison in your system you're as weak as a newborn baby. I swear on my honor that I mean you no harm. Now if you don't mind, I need to heal you before you pass out."

Jiraiya considered this for a moment, before lowering his kunai and letting the man move toward him. When the man reached Jiraiya, he held his palm over Jiraiya's chest and his hand started to be surrounded by a deep, forest green chakra. Jiraiya stared in awe as he immediately started to feel good as new. It only took a few seconds for him to be fully healed.

"What was that?" he asked in amazement.

"Just a simple healing technique. It is based on the Miracle Palm technique. I just improved it."

Jiraiya nodded, and the man said, "We should be going to Konoha now."

"Yes, it should take us about two days to get there." Jiraiya agreed.

The mysterious man shook his head and grabbed Jiraiya by his shoulder, and with a flash of light, they were gone.

Outside Konoha

It was a quiet day of guard duty at the southern gate of Konoha for Chunin Izumo and Kotetsu. People rarely passed through this gate, which is why the two always volunteered to guard it. They enjoyed the relaxation and easy money the mission provided. They didn't get many people through there, which is why when a flash of light suddenly appeared in front of them, they were quite startled.

Out of the flash appeared a tall, black-clothed man, and Jiraiya of the Sannin. Jiraiya looked like he hadn't been expecting the instantaneous transportation, and was a little shook up from it. He looked to Izumo and Kotetsu, who waved him through immediately.

The tall man simply grabbed Jiraiya's arm and they vanished again, leaving two very perplexed chunin.

Hokage's office

As Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konoha sat at his desk signing paperwork he began to look back on the past, as he often did. He blamed himself for Naruto's death, all those years ago. He thought that if he had been more forceful, that he could have prevented the attack that led to Naruto's disappearance from the hospital.

He was sure, in his mind, that naruto had died that night. However, he was unable to explain why naruto had suddenly vanished as he did. Sarutobi had changed much over the years. No longer was he the kindly leader who was always friendly to his shinobi. He was much colder towards people now, especially civilians.

The old Hokage was broken out of his thoughts by a flash of light appearing in the room. He relaxed when he saw it was just Jiraiya, although he was curious as to who he was with. "Jiraiya, I thought you were in Ta no Kuni? How did you get here?"

Jiraiya just pointed towards the man beside him. Once he had caught his breath, he told Sarutobi about what he discovered in Ta no Kuni, as well as the ambush, and him being poisoned and chased by the large orange haired man. "And so, right as the big guy was about to bisect me, this man beside me showed up out of nowhere, and took the guy down. The big guy ran away with a large wound on his side, which is impressive since even I couldn't hurt him. Well, anyway, after that, this guy used some medical technique t fix me right up and then he grabbed me and teleported us here."

The Hokage had an impressed look on his face, "So, who is he? Did he give you a name?"

"No, but he did say that he was coming here because he had business with you. And there is one troubling thing about him." He then turned towards the tall man beside him. "Please drop the illusion you put on yourself." He asked.

The stranger responded, "Before I do that, I think I should tell you a bit about who I am. The man then pulled back his hood, revealing his long red and blond hair, which was tied in a ponytail, and blood-red eyes with slit pupils. He then removed his coat and sword, revealing his toned muscles.

At this time, Sarutobi and Jiraiya were watching him warily. He then pulled down his facemask, revealing three dark whisker marks on each cheek. The Hokage and Jiraiya both looked like they had seen a ghost, which to them, it seemed like they were. The man then said "My name is Namikaze Naruto, former jinchurriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune."


	3. Chapter 3

Holy shit, this took forever. I've been really busy lately. I had finals at school, then my birthday, and I lost a couple nights of sleep playing some new PS3 games. I finished this a lot later than I expected, so sorry for anyone who was waiting for me to update. I forgot to write an Author's Note last chapter, so if anyone was wondering; the song was Castaway by Green Day. Anyway, when you're done reading, please take the time to review. I appreciate it very much, and thank you to those that have reviewed.

**I forgot to do a disclaimer before, so listen up. I'm only doing this once. **

I do not own Naruto, the anime or the manga, or anything associated with it. The only things I own are the jutsu that I make up, or any OC's that I might create. If you spot an original jutsu in my story that someone else has already come up with, please let me know so that I can give them the proper credit.

**Okay, now that that's done, on with the show!**

**Previous Chapter:**

_The stranger responded, "Before I do that, I think I should tell you a bit about who I am. The man then pulled back his hood, revealing his long red and blond hair, which was tied in a ponytail, and blood-red eyes with slit pupils. He then removed his coat and sword, revealing his toned muscles. _

_At this time, Sarutobi and Jiraiya were watching him warily. He then pulled down his facemask, revealing three dark whisker marks on each cheek. The Hokage and Jiraiya both looked like they had seen a ghost, which to them, it seemed like they were. The man then said "My name is Namikaze Naruto, former jinchurriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune." _

Chapter Three: Animal I Have Become

Sarutobi was the first to come out of his shock. "Why should we believe that you are who you say you are? As far as I know, Naruto died eight years ago."

The man who claimed to be Naruto replied, "When I was six years old, I came to your office one day escorted by two ANBU. They had just finished saving me from a potentially nasty beating. After they left, you gave me some extra money with my monthly check. I was excited, and said that I was going to buy a set of kunai, so that I could be a ninja. While you were initially hesitant, I eventually persuaded you to let me enroll in the Academy. Now tell me, how would anyone but me know of this? We were the only people in the room, and I know that you had privacy seals up. Who else but Naruto would know what went on that day?"

Sarutobi was surprised at the logical argument. He had to admit, it made sense. "Naruto? Is that really you?" He asked after several minutes of silence.

"Yes." Naruto said simply.

Sarutobi let his shoulders sag in relief. For eight long years, he had carried the guilt of Naruto's death on his shoulders. Now that he was finally free of that guilt, he felt a thousand times lighter. "Thank Kami." He whispered.

Jiraiya watched all this with a raised eyebrow. "Wait a minute, you're telling me that _Naruto_ saved my life?" he then turned towards Naruto. "And how the hell are you alive, anyway? How do you know who your father was? And _What The Hell_ do you mean by 'former jinchurriki'?"

Sarutobi looked towards Naruto. "Good questions. Please answer them, if you don't mind."

Naruto just shrugged and said, "Kyuubi."

Sarutobi narrowed his eyes. "What about it?"

Naruto made a hand seal, and his form seemed to waver for a moment, before revealing his true form. "This is what I meant by 'former jinchurriki'. This is how I survived. And this is who I am now."

Sarutobi and Jiraiya both went into battle stances. Before either of them could speak however, they found their limbs had become immobile. They both fell to the floor, unable to move.

Naruto then spoke, "Now then, before you do anything hasty, let me explain. I am going to release you, and you will let me explain how this happened. Nod if you agree."

They both nodded, and leaned towards them and pulled of the paralysis tags that he had his shadow clones place there when they weren't looking. After climbing back to their feet, they both looked suspiciously at naruto. "Explain." Sarutobi commanded.

So Naruto told them what had happened in his mindscape on the night he was attacked. He told them of his arrival in Makai, and his later departure. However, he left out what he actually did while in Makai, and while traveling the Elemental Countries. "So then I saved Jiraiya, and we came here." He finished.

Sarutobi and Jiraiya could not believe the things that they had heard. "So what happened to the previous Kyuubi? He is dead, I assume?" Sarutobi asked.

"No. While his power is now mine, his soul is still bound to my own. He is the one who has taught me to use my powers, and he is the one who told me of my family."

Sarutobi, though surprised, merely nodded and asked, "What do you intend to do now?"

Naruto answered, "I intend to join the shinobi ranks. And I would appreciate it if you would both agree to not speak of what you have learned here."

Sarutobi looked at naruto oddly. "You are aware that you will have to start at the bottom of our ranks, correct? Since you are not a registered citizen of Konoha as of now, you are required to work your way up in rank, as is village policy."

Naruto nodded and said, "I understand."

"Very well then. I will take care of the paper work later." Sarutobi said.

Naruto nodded and said, "Good. Now as for the matter of my inheritance."

Sarutobi responded, "Yes, of course." He then walked over to a portrait of the Yondaime, and lifted it up to reveal bare wall. He placed a hand on the wall, and channeled chakra into it. After a few seconds, a seal appeared. Sarutobi then bit his thumb, and wiped the blood across the seal. Out of the seal popped a large scroll. Sarutobi picked up this large scroll and handed it to Naruto.

"This scroll contains your inheritance, from both sides of your family. I suggest you go through it when you are alone." Sarutobi then opened a drawer on his desk, and retrieved a pair of keys, which he tossed to Naruto. "Those are the keys to the Namikaze Estate. You will find it behind the Hokage Monument. The seals on the property are designed to keep out anyone besides a Namikaze or Uzumaki, so the place will be a bit dusty."

After Naruto thanked him, Sarutobi continued, "You will have to report to the Konoha Academy tomorrow morning at 8:00 sharp. You will be in room 300."

Naruto said goodbye to him, and left via a flash of light.

After he left, Sarutobi collapsed in his chair. "Jiraiya," he said, "I have a feeling that things are going to get a lot more interesting around here."

Jiraiya snorted and replied, "Well, they sure won't be boring, that's for sure."

At the Namikaze Estate

Naruto appeared in front of the gate to his new house and looked at the gate. It was a large iron thing, topped with spikes to make sure that no one would climb over. As Naruto walked closer, he could see that in the middle of the gate, there was a seal inscribed. He put his hand on it, and channeled his chakra into it. The seal started to glow, and the gate swung open. Naruto walked through the gate and closed it behind him.

His new house was a large three-story western style home. He walked up to the front door and unlocked it with the key he had gotten from the Hokage. He heard a click, signifying that the door was unlocked. He then opened it, and made his way inside.

The interior of the house was what you would expect from a typical upper class home. On the first floor, there was a living room, a kitchen, a den, a dining room and a bathroom, all decorated expensively. There was also a door that led down into what looked to be a basement, and a bathroom. Naruto made plans to investigate the basement later.

On the second floor, there were several bedrooms, each with their own small bathroom- nothing more than a toilet, sink, and shower, really-, a large master bathroom, a study, and the master bedroom.

On the third floor, there was a door that had Naruto's name written on it in bright, colorful letters. 'This would have been my room.' He thought sadly as he ran his fingers over the letters. He opened the door slowly and walked inside. On the inside, the room would have been perfect for any baby. There were toys scattered about, and colorful paintings on the wall. It was clear that his parents had been preparing for his arrival before their untimely deaths.

On a shelf, well out of the reach of a newborn child, there was a picture frame containing a photo of Naruto's parents. Kushina was pregnant in the photo, and Minato had his ear pressed against her belly. They were standing in what was to be Naruto's room. Naruto slid the photo out of its frame and looked on the back. There was a note that read, 'Dear Naruto, know that we will always be with you in your heart, and watching over you. Love Forever, Mom And Dad'

Naruto folded the picture and put it in a pocket in his vest as a tear slid down his face.

As Naruto was contemplating the life he could have had with his parents, Kitane spoke, '**I'm sorry.' **Naruto sighed. 'I wish you would stop apologizing, Kitane. It wasn't your fault. You made a mistake. Besides, I forgave you years ago.'

'But it is my fault! You may have forgiven me, but I can never forgive myself. I should have known-'

'You couldn't have known.' Naruto interjected. 'It was set up too well. Please, just accept what happened, and move on.'

'I can't move on. Not until every one of those bastards is dead. Not until that snake bastard has drawn his last breath.'

Naruto exited the room silently, and went back downstairs. He entered the master bedroom, and looked around. The bed looked big enough for four people, and there were two large wardrobes, and a door that led to a nice looking bathroom. Other than that, naruto looked in one of the wardrobes, and found clothes that must have belonged to his father. 'I'll need to replace these with ones my size.' He thought to himself.

He then headed back down to the living room to sort through his inheritance. By the time he finished, it was well into the night, and he was quite impressed. Inside of the large scrolls were two other, slightly smaller scrolls. One was labeled 'Namikaze', the other, 'Uzumaki'. Naruto decided to open the Uzumaki scroll first. After wiping a little blood on it, it poofed open to reveal two very large scrolls, and one smaller one. Opening the smaller one first, and read its contents. It was a note from his mother explaining that since he was the heir of the Uzumaki clan, who were the leaders of Uzushiogakure no Sato, and Uzu no Kuni, he legally owned the islands that comprised Uzu no Kuni. It also explained what was in the other two large scrolls, which was the Uzumaki clan jutsu, including all their texts on fuinjutsu, which is what the clan specialized in, and the clan fortune in the other scroll, which was large enough to rival the wealth of the Gato Shipping Enterprises, one of the richest businesses in the world.

When he opened the Namikaze scroll, it opened to reveal three scrolls, including what he recognized as the Forbidden Scroll of Seals, from the Hokage's office. He was confused, until he spotted a note attached to the scroll. It read:

'Dear Naruto,

Before his death, Minato told me that he wanted this scroll to belong to you. Because the scroll is the property of whoever is Hokage at the time, there was no law against him giving it to a family member. Please, keep it safe. This scroll contains many of Konoha's valuable secrets. Inside you will find both of your father's jutsu, the Hiraishin, and the Rasengan. Use them well.'

-Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage

Inside one of the other two scrolls, he found the Namikaze clan jutsu, including their world-famous kenjutsu and taijutsu techniques, as well as their equally feared space-time ninjutsu. In the other scroll, he found the Namikaze clan fortune, which was a little bigger than the Uzumaki, making Naruto one of the Wealthiest people in the Elemental Countries, if not the wealthiest. He found a note stating that both of his clan fortunes had been put into an account in the bank by Sarutobi, one that was only accessible by Naruto.

Since it was late, he decided to head to bed. On his way to the stairs, he spotted the basement door. He still didn't know what was down there. He shrugged and decided to check it out later. After he reached the master bedroom, he undressed and collapsed o the bed, falling into a deep sleep.

**The Next day** Naruto woke up sometime around seven, and decided that he didn't need to rush to the Academy. He showered, ate breakfast, and got dressed before putting up his illusion to hide his ears and tails. He left his eyes the way they were, though. After making sure he had everything with him, he walked to the Academy. By the time he got there, it was ten minutes to eight. He found room 300, and could hear the sounds of chatter from inside. He opened the door, and all sounds stopped. Naruto could feel about thirty different pairs of eyes on him as he walked to Iruka and Handed Him the scroll that the Hokage had given him. After Iruka read the scroll, he turned to the class and said, "Good morning, everyone. Before we begin today, we have a new student who was previously training outside the village. He has come here to become a Konoha ninja. Please introduce yourself to the class. Name, hobbies, goals, that kind of stuff." Naruto Nodded and said, "My name is Namikaze Naruto. My hobbies are training, and inventing jutsu. My goal is not for you to know. I left the village eight years ago for a training trip, and now I have returned." As Naruto finished, he was greeted by thirty pairs of wide eyes and dropped jaws. A cacophony of questions assaulted his ears. "You're related to the Yondaime!' "You invent jutsu in your spare time!"

"What's with that sword?"

"What's up with your eyes, man?"

Above them all however, was Iruka. He yelled for quiet, and those kids shut up fast. Once everybody was silent, he turned to Naruto and smiled, "It's good to see you Naruto. I always wondered what happened to you. Anyway, aside from the yelling, these people had some good questions. Care to enlighten us?"

Naruto sighed and began, "Yes, I am related to the Yondaime. I'm his son. Yes, I do invent jutsu in my spare time; I have created several jutsu of various types. And the sword, well, it's just a sword, as far as you know." He then took a seat next to a dark haired young man who had an Uchiha crest on his blue shirt.

Iruka then spoke, "That's impressive, Naruto. Well, anyway, on to business. Today is the day of the genin exam. Mizuki will not be here, however, as he called in sick this morning. Now Naruto, since you just got here, you will have no shot at the Rookie of the Year title. Is this acceptable?"

Naruto thought about it, then said, "What if I were to challenge the current Rookie of the Year for his title? Surely that would be fair."

Iruka replied, "Well, that depends on if Sasuke wants to risk his title or not." The boy beside naruto just scoffed and said, "Bring it on." Iruka shrugged and motioned for the class to file outside. Once everyone was outside, Naruto and Sasuke walked over to a sparring ring with Iruka as the Referee. After Naruto set aside his sword, Iruka spoke, "Okay, this match will be taijutsu only, No weapons, no jutsu. Start in Three, Two, One, Fight!"

As soon as Iruka said fight, Sasuke charged toward Naruto, hoping to catch him off guard. He feinted a punch at Naruto's head, but at the last second, dropped down to sweep Naruto's legs out from under him. Naruto simply blocked Sasuke's leg sweep with his foot, and caught him by the wrist and swung him up over his head, and slammed him down into the ground hard enough to leave a small crater, knocking him out in the process.

The rest of the class just watched in stunned silence as the Rookie of the Year was defeated with one move. "Winner, Naruto!" declare Iruka. He then walked over to Sasuke and revived him with a vial of smelling salts. When Sasuke was informed that he had lost, he simply skulked back inside to brood. The rest of the class filed in after him.

When they were back inside, Iruka said, "Congratulations, Naruto. You are now the primary contender for Rookie of the Year. The only way you could lose the title is if Sasuke gets a drastically higher score than you on the exam. Speaking of which, we should begin that." He then passed out the written portion of the exam and said, "You have thirty minutes to complete this portion of the exam. You may begin."

It took Naruto only five minutes to finish the test, since the knowledge was so basic. After finishing, he put his head down and slept. Once the thirty minutes was up, everybody turned in their test and waited for Iruka's instructions. "Okay, Now that everybody has finished the written portion, we can begin with the jutsu portion. When your name is called, come to the front of the class and perform three bunshin, a henge, and a kawarimi, as well as a jutsu that you learned outside of the Academy. First up, Aburame Shino."

Shino performed the three Academy jutsu as required, and a kikai bunshin as well. After Shino was Akimichi Chouji. He also performed the three Academy jutsu, as well as one of his family's multi-size jutsu. After Chouji came Haruno Sakura, who performed the three Academy jutsu as well, but had not learned one outside of the Academy. After Her was Hyuuga Hinata, who did the Academy jutsu, and demonstrated some of her family's Jyuuken techniques.

Next came Inuzuka Kiba, who along with the Academy jutsu performed a clone technique in tandem with his Ninken, Akamaru. Next was Nara Shikamaru, who did the Academy jutsu and performed his Kagemane no jutsu on Iruka. After that, Uchiha Sasuke came up and did the three Academy jutsu, making ten bunshins, though he looked a little winded. He then led the class outside and performed a Goukakyu no jutsu on a nearby tree. After that it was Yamanaka Ino's turn. She performed the three jutsu perfectly, although she seemed a little tired afterwards. She then performed her clan's mind jutsu on Iruka, possessing his body before returning to her own.

Naruto's turn finally came up and he went to the front of the class. "Alright, Naruto. Please perform three bunshin. Naruto then, without using any hand seals, filled the room with clones. Iruka said in a shocked tone, "You made this many Bunshin without hand seals?"

Naruto replied, "Kage Bunshin, actually. There are a few thousand more outside." Iruka looked outside and sure enough, there were Naruto's as far as he could see. "These are all Kage Bunshin?" he asked weakly. "Every one of them." Naruto replied. "Okay, well then please perform a Kawarimi. Naruto then switched himself with Iruka, once again forgoing the use of hand seals. "Very good. And now, perform a Henge, please."

A poof of smoke obscured Naruto's form before clearing to reveal a perfect representation of the Sandaime Hokage. Iruka beamed and said, "Excellent. Now, do you have a jutsu to perform?" Naruto answered, "Yes, but we might want to step outside for this."

After they all left the classroom, Naruto walked to the front of the class and faced a tree several meters away from them. He held his hand out towards the tree, and turned back towards Iruka. " You should all step back to a safe distance." The class retreated to a distance of about a hundred feet and Naruto returned his attention to the tree. The class watched with bated breath. Suddenly, a humungous dragon of fire burst from Naruto's fingertips. It was at least twice as big as the average fire dragon. It spiraled from Naruto's fingertips up into the sky, where it soared upwards before heading back toward earth.

As it raced toward the ground at deadly speeds, Iruka stared on in horror. The blast from that would incinerate everything within three hundred feet! As he was about to shout to the class to get back, the dragon dissipated into nothing shortly before hitting the tree. Iruka breathed a sigh of relief, while the Uchiha was seething quietly.

Naruto turned back towards the class and asked, "I'm sorry if I frightened you. I don't mean to show off, honestly, but after seven years of difficult training, this sort of thing becomes second nature." The stunned Iruka gathered his wits enough to nod and say, "H-how did you do that? No genin should have enough chakra for that, let alone be able to do it without hand seals. You don't even look winded!" Naruto shrugged and replied, "You could call it a bloodline."

The rest of the class all entered the classroom, making a mental note to never piss off the flame-haired youth, while others were secretly hoping to be placed on his team. Sasuke was only thinking about Naruto's supposed Bloodline, and how he could become that strong. Iruka addressed the oddly silent class, "Well, then, everybody who passed, be here tomorrow morning at eight for team assignments." When he finished, the class began to file out the doorway, each of them grabbing a hitai-ate from a small table on their way out. When Iruka looked around hoping to find Naruto, he was already out of sight.

As naruto walked up the stairs to his living room, Kitane spoke, **'Don't you think you overdid it a little?'**

Naruto chuckled and replied, 'Perhaps. But it was amusing. Besides, they still have no idea what I am truly capable of.'

'I wish you hadn't left me behind a tree when you fought the Uchiha. I wanted to see that.'

What Kitane was referring to, was the fact that his consciousness no longer resided inside Naruto. Several years earlier, naruto had devised a method to bind Kitane's consciousness to an object, in this case, his sword. While their souls were still connected, and they shared a telepathic link, Kitane's essence was now bound to the sword. It had started off as a regular katana, but after the binding, it was changed. It grew to become a Nodachi, and the blade changed as well. What was once regular steel, now looked as if someone had magically taken fire, and transformed it into metal. When you tilted the sword, it looked as if it were a moving flame, which led naruto to name it The Dancing Flame. The sword had also gained several special properties. It was impossibly sharp, and never seemed to dull. It seemed impossible to break, as well. After hitting it with his strongest doton jutsu, not even a scratch remained on the blade. Kitane was also able to control the movement of the sword, although Naruto preferred to use it by hand, and when people were cut by it, they suffered severe third degree burns on the area of the cut. The look of the blade was not just for show it seemed. All in all, it had transformed into an extremely deadly weapon. Kitane, being bound inside it, was able to see in a three-hundred-and-sixty degree view around the sword, similar to the Hyuuga's Byakugan, although he lacked the X-ray vision and telescopic abilities.

Snapping back to the present, Naruto noticed that it was well past midnight, and decided to turn in for the night.

Later that night

Naruto heard a knock on the door, snapping him from his sleep. He made his way downstairs, and opened the door, seeing a tiger-masked ANBU holding out a letter to him. When Naruto accepted the letter, the ANBU vanished. Naruto opened it and read its contents. It read:

'Naruto,

Meet me in my office ASAP. Wear your mask.

-Sarutobi'

Naruto gathered his gear, put on his facemask, and put his hood up to cover his hair. When he finished, he used his transportation technique and vanished in a flash of light.

Hokage's Office

Sarutobi was pacing back and forth in front of his desk, when Naruto appeared in a flash of light, as usual. If it weren't for his many years of experience, Naruto's unexpected arrivals would have given him a heart attack by now. Looking to the Hokage, naruto asked, "What's the situation?"

Sarutobi motioned him to follow and the two began walking. "Two hours ago, the Chunin Touji Mizuki was apprehended by ANBU while he was attempting to steal the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage Tower. When the ANBU checked the scroll, they found it missing, as you know. Naturally, they came straight to me. I could have contained the problem, but somehow the council was able to get wind of this around the same time as me. For the last hour, I've had council members streaming into my office, asking all sorts of questions. I just recently managed to get them to leave by telling them I would be calling an official council meeting to address their concerns. After that, I contacted you. So we are going to go down to the council chamber, and defuse this panic."

By the time the Hokage finished explaining, they had reached the doors of the council chamber. They opened the door to be greeted by a cacophony of shouting voices. Almost everybody in the room was yelling at somebody else. The only people who managed to remain calm were Aburame Shibi, Hyuuga Hiashi, Nara Shikaku, and surprisingly, Sarutobi noted, Inuzuka Tsume.

When Sarutobi was noticed, he was immediately bombarded by questions. After enduring the endless tirade for several moments, his frustration mounted and he shouted, "Silence!" The volume of his shout was enough to not only be heard over the myriad voices, but to shut them all up as well.

After everybody had taken their seats once more, the Hokage addressed them, "As you all know, one of our Chunin, Touji Mizuki, was caught several hours ago attempting to steal the Forbidden Scroll of Seals from the Hokage Tower. However, he was caught before he ever got near the scroll. When the ANBU checked to make sure that the scroll was still there, they discovered that it was in fact, missing. I was immediately informed of this, and, apparently, so were several of you."

One of the civilian council members spoke up, "So then where is it! Who stole it! We need to catch this thief immediately!"

The Hokage nodded at the council member, and replied, "That is what I was getting to. I have come to inform you all that the scroll was not stolen, it was simply given to its rightful owner." This drew another round of shouts from those gathered there. One of the Hokage's Advisors, and former teammate, Homura, shouted, "Hokage-sama! That scroll is Village property! We must retrieve it at once! Whom was this scroll given to?"

Sarutobi answered, "Before my predecessor died, he stipulated in his will that he wanted the scroll to be left to a certain individual. Since the scroll is the rightful property of whoever is Hokage, he was well within his rights to leave it to whomever he wanted. Yesterday, that individual arrived in the village after being away for seven years. So, naturally, I handed over what is now that individual's rightful property."

Homura was growing impatient. "Hokage-sama, that scroll contains vital secrets of this village. If that scroll were to fall into the wrong hands, it would spell disaster for us. It must be returned to the village, Yondaime's will or not. Where is this person, anyway? We must get the scroll from him at once."

Sarutobi simply indicated behind him to the previously unnoticed Naruto. Of course, the Council had no idea who he was, and so he was rather rudely addressed by Homura, "You! What is your name?"

Naruto locked eyes with Homura for a scant second, but looking into those slitted red eyes for even a moment was enough to send a shiver down his spine. "You may address me as Namikaze-san, for now." Naruto replied coolly. This statement drew loud gasps from all those assembled, and a few shouts of "Liar!"

Sarutobi cleared his throat, gaining the Council's attention once more. "Yes, it is true. This man is indeed a relative of our beloved Yondaime."

The Hokage's other Advisor and former teammate, Koharu, huffed and said, "Well, relative of the Yondaime or not, that scroll is too valuable to be left in your hands. You will return it to us at once."

Naruto calmly replied, "No. My father left it to me, and with me it will stay."

Homura yelled out, "Liar! The Yondaime never had a child, and you must be at least eighteen. You are simply too old to possibly be his child."

"Actually, I'm only fourteen." Naruto responded. Homura, along with every other person there, blanched at that. If what he said was true, it meant that this person could be the Yondaime's son.

Sarutobi spoke up once more, "I can vouch for him. The Yondaime married in secret, and his wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy. I was there for the birth, and my student Tsunade personally delivered the baby. As for the scroll, it will stay with Namikaze-san. It is his property, left to him by his father. Now, on to another matter. Although Namikaze-san is only fourteen, I assure you, his skills are at least Jounin level. Though he is currently only a Genin rank, I move that we restore the Namikaze seat on this Council, and give the position to Namikaze-san. He should begin to rebuild his clan, don't you think?" Sarutobi threw out that last bit as incentive.

After a few minutes of mumbling the shinobi council decided to put it to a vote. The civilians had no say in this; as it was strictly a shinobi matter. The vote was unanimous in Favor of appointing Naruto to the position of Clan head of the Namikaze. Sarutobi beamed as Naruto took the empty seat between Hiashi and Tsume. Tsume shook his hand cheerfully and slapped him on the back, whereas Hiashi merely nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Well then," Sarutobi continued, "It seems that Namikaze Naruto is now officially a clan head." Naruto then pulled off his mask and hood, revealing a face that many in the room thought was gone forever.

The room once again erupted into a whirlwind of sound. Several of the civilian council looked as if they had soiled themselves, while the rest looked ready to go into cardiac arrest. The shinobi council was mostly amused, including Tsume, who was laughing her as off at the reactions of the civilians, however, looked absolutely furious. "Hokage-sama! How can you let that…that…_thing _enter our village, let alone join this Council! I refuse to let this happen!"

Sarutobi glared and responded, "It already happened, Homura. Naruto was voted unanimously to join this Council as a Clan head. That decision cannot be undone without my approval, which I most certainly will not give. And need I remind you, it was never up to you in the first place." Homura shut his mouth, seething silently.

Sarutobi addressed the Council again, "Now that that is settled, this Council is dismissed." People began file out of the chamber, each shocked of the events of that night. People would be talking about this all over the village by morning, Sarutobi realized. Oh, well. At least he got to have his fun.

The Academy: The next day

As Iruka watched the new Genin file in the door, each sporting a shiny new hitai-ate, he couldn't help but feel a certain sense of pride. He thought about his own hitai-ate, once shiny and new, but now cowered in various scratches and dents, and thought of how it was a reminder of all the things he had experienced, all the people he had met, all the battles he had fought. In a few years, these new Genin would each mature into fine shinobi, and fine adults. He was proud that he had been the first to help them along that path.

His mind soon turned to other thoughts. News of the events in the council chamber had spread through the village like wildfire, and many could not believe the things they heard. No one could really imagine a Genin, let alone someone as disliked as Naruto, being _unanimously_ voted in as a Clan head. Even more shocking for the villagers, was the news of just which clan Naruto was heard of. Many people were ashamed that they had treated their hero's son so badly, while others were skeptical, and a few were angry that the_ demon_ was still alive, Namikaze or not. The majority of people however, vowed to try their hardest to make it up to Naruto for their inexcusable behavior.

Iruka was proud that they would admit that they were wrong like that. It gave him renewed hope for the future of this village. As the last few people filed in, Naruto walked through the doorway. All eyes turned to him, including the jealous eyes of the Uchiha. He ignored their stares as he took a seat next to Shikamaru. The lazy Nara just looked at him, before muttering "Troublesome." and laying his head back down.

When everybody had settled, Iruka Spoke to the class, "Good morning everyone. As of today, you are all officially ninja. However, you are only Genin. Your journey is just beginning. The hard part starts now, everybody, so I wish you all luck." He then began to read off team listings. "…Team Seven, consisting of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Sai. Your Jounin Sensei is Hatake Kakashi. Team Eight, consisting of Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba. Your Sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai. Team Nine is still in circulation, so team Ten is Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. Your Sensei is Sarutobi Asuma."

Naruto realized that everybody had had their name called but him and asked, "Excuse me, but why did you not call my name?" Iruka looked at his clipboard and answered, "It seems that the Hokage has decided not to place you on a team. Instead, you will be apprenticed to…" Iruka paled as he read the name of Naruto's new sensei.

Earlier that Day: Hokage's Office

Sarutobi was focused on his paperwork as he heard someone enter his office. Looking up, he saw that it was Mitarashi Anko. "What did you want, you old geezer?" She asked in her usual fashion. Sarutobi smiled and said, "Good morning, Anko-chan. I have a new mission for you."

"I accept!" Anko yelled proudly. Sarutobi sweatdropped. "Don't you at least want to know what it is?" "Nope!" Anko responded. "Very well." Sarutobi said with a smile as he handed Anko a file. "Everything you need to know is in there."

Anko grabbed it excitedly, hoping for a super-dangerous S-rank, with a good pay. However, when she read the file, she dropped it and shouted, "You want me to do WHAT!"

Sarutobi chuckled and said, "Hopefully, that will teach you to accept missions without knowing what they are. Just be glad it wasn't a months worth of D-ranks."

"This is worse!" Anko yelled while glaring. "You want me to teach some snot-nosed brat? We'll be stuck on D-ranks for at least a month!"

"I assure you, Anko, Naruto is anything but a brat. You may have heard that he was voted in as a Clan head last night."

Anko looked up in surprise. "Him? The Kyuubi jinchurriki? Alright, tell me about this kid." she said, finally sitting back down.

**Present: Academy**

As Iruka was about to read the name of Naruto's Sensei, an object came crashing through the window. The object landed, revealing a woman wearing a tan coat, orange skirt, and not much else. Her purple hair was tied up in a ponytail. "Anko Mitarashi, here to collect my student!" she declared. "Which one of you midgets is Namikaze Naruto?"

Anko felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned around, coming face-to-chest with Naruto. He towered over Her by at least a foot. "Hi." He said.

Getting over her surprise at his freakish height, she yelled, "Alright! Follow me!" and dove right back out the window, with Naruto following. The rest of the class just sweatdropped at the strange display.

When Anko looked behind her to see if her student was following, she saw nothing. "Heh. Guess I must have been too fast for the kid."

"Is that so?"

Snapping her view back to in front of her, Anko saw Naruto casually hopping from branch to branch backwards while facing her. "Seems I was mistaken. Maybe Sarutobi was right about you." Naruto fell in beside Anko and the two of them continued hopping from tree to tree until they reached a large forest with a fence around it, covered in signs reading, 'Warning. Stay out.'

Anko turned to her student and cheerfully said, "This is our training ground, #44. Commonly referred to as the Forest of Death." They made their way into the forest a ways until they found a large clearing to stop in.

"This will be where we will meet everyday. Before we begin, I want to set a few things straight. First, the Hokage assures me that you are far above Genin level. Therefore, think of me more as your partner that Sensei. Second, We will not be wasting our time with pathetic D-ranked chores. Our first mission will be a C-rank, and after that all our missions will be B-rank or higher. Third, don't refer to me as 'Sensei'. If there's one thing I hate, it's formality. My name is Anko, and that is what you will call me. Do you have any problems with any of this?"

"No." Naruto replied.

"Good. Now I'm going to test you on the skills that you will need on our missions. I will be testing you in stealth, tracking, and combat. First, you will attempt to hide from me in the forest for one hour. Are you ready?"

Naruto nodded, and Anko closed her eyes and began to count to ten. When she opened her eyes, Naruto was nowhere to be seen, nor could she detect his chakra anywhere near. "The kid's good at hiding, I'll give him that." Anko muttered as she made her way into the forest.

Finally finished! Let me know what you think of putting Anko with Naruto. I know that's been done a lot, but I just felt it would go well. Plus, I didn't want to put Naruto on a team, and the only other people I had considered were Yamato, Hayate, and Yuugao.

**Also, let me know if you think my chapters should be longer or shorter. Just so you know, I have a habit of randomly capitalizing things. I do my best to go back and catch any mistakes, but let me know if you find any randomly capitalized words.**

**Another thing. If anybody could direct me to a good English-to-Japanese translator, that would be great. The Song this time was Animal I Have Become by Three Days Grace. Well so long everybody, I'll see you soon.**

**Don't Fear the Reaper,**

**Kumo no Shinigami**


	4. Chapter 4

Previous Chapter

"_Good. Now I'm going to test you on the skills that you will need on our missions. I will be testing you in stealth, tracking, and combat. First, you will attempt to hide from me in the forest for one hour. Are you ready?"_

_Naruto nodded, and Anko closed her eyes and began to count to ten. When she opened her eyes, Naruto was nowhere to be seen, nor could she detect his chakra anywhere near. "The kid's good at hiding, I'll give him that." Anko muttered as she made her way into the forest. _

Chapter Four: Come AliveOne hour later

When Anko heard the timer she had set go off, she let out a scream of frustration. For the last hour, her and ten shadow clones had been combing the forest for Naruto. However, no matter how hard they searched, they were unsuccessful in locating him. To make matters worse, Naruto had some how laid out several false trails scattered all around the forest. These on several occasions had fooled Anko, putting her in a very bad mood.

When she arrived back in the clearing, her eye began to twitch at what she saw. Naruto was there, casually leaning against a tree. "Yo." He said with a casual wave.

"How the hell did you hide so well!" She yelled. "I know this forest like the back of my hand. There's no way you should have been able to hide from me."

In answer, Naruto's form shimmered for a moment before disappearing. "A simple illusion. I just had to mask my chakra and send out some shadow clones to make those false trails." He said as he reappeared.

"Wow. I'm actually impressed. Let's see how good you are at tracking, though. The goal this time will be to track me down in the forest, and capture me. Once again, the time limit will be one hour. Ready to begin?"

Naruto nodded, and Anko raced off into the forest. After giving her a sixty-second head start, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Almost immediately, he was able to get a lock on Anko's chakra.

With her location in mind, he raced into the forest to intercept her, keeping his chakra masked and his invisibility genjutsu activated. As he made his way into the forest, he spotted Anko about thirty feet in front of him, Hopping through the trees at a steady pace. Keeping pace with her but maintaining his distance, he performed a string of hand seals and whispered the name of his jutsu.

As Anko was jumping through the trees, she felt the branch she was on shudder. 'Could he have found me already?' she wondered. 'I'll have to be cautious.' Suddenly, the branch she was on twisted around, holding her arms to her sides and binding her legs as well. "What the hell?" she shouted.

After struggling futilely to escape the trees grasp, Anko decided that she had indeed been caught. "Alright, fine. You win!" she yelled into the forest. Naruto revealed himself to be standing right next to her and with a wave of his hand, caused the branches to resume their normal form.

"Was that Mokuton? I didn't know you were related to the Senju." Asked Anko as she rubbed her bruised arms. Naruto shook his head and replied, "That was Mokuton, but as far as I know I'm not related to the Senju. However, one of my clansmen, Uzumaki Mito, was the wife of the Shodaime."

Anko looked at Naruto in surprise. "Wow, I didn't know that. That's pretty impressive. Anyway, let's get on with the third part of this test, and my personal favorite, the combat portion. And guess what? I'm not holding back!"

They arrived back in their clearing, and faced each other across a distance of ten feet. "Ok, this is going to be a full on battle, no holding back. You will be graded on how long you last against me. Start in three, two, ONE!"

Anko rushed towards naruto, hoping to end the fight early. She launched a punch at his gut, and naruto grabbed her wrist and sent two kicks to her stomach, both of which connected. Anko grunted in pain. 'Holy shit! He kicks fucking hard!' She broke his grip on her wrist and jumped back, performing hand seals. **"Sen'eijashu!" **She yelled, sending snakes out of her sleeves towards Naruto.

As they reached him, Naruto quickly drew his sword and decapitated all of them before sheathing his sword again, all within the space of a second. Anko growled. "Try this, you little prick!" she did some more hand seals before biting her thumb and slamming her hand down on the ground. **"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" **A puff of smoke appeared, revealing Anko standing next to a giant snake. **"Who do you need me to crush, Anko?" **the snake asked in a hissing voice. Anko pointed at Naruto and yelled, "Him! He's been pissing me off all day! Leave him alive, though, or the old man will yell at me."

The snake launched itself towards Naruto, who simply raised his hand towards it. From his outstretched fingertips came a spiraling dragon of fire, which wound itself around the snake, burning its body. The dragon sank its fangs into the skull of the snake, dispelling it with a puff of smoke.

Anko could only stare on with her mouth hanging open as this kid, this fourteen year old fresh out of the Academy Genin, destroyed one of her strongest summons without even moving. She realized she was going to have to get serious if she was going to win, which she was determined to do. "Kid," she growled, "If you know how to use that sword I would recommend using it now." "Sorry, Anko. I only use this sword when I intend to kill." Naruto replied.

Anko sped towards Naruto with a savage battle cry, hoping to overwhelm him with taijutsu. However, no matter how she tried to hit him, he would either dodge or block her attacks, never striking back. They continued like this for several minutes; before Naruto said, " If you don't mind, I'm going to finish this now." As Anko sent a straight jab at Naruto's face, he reared his head back before head butting the fist, breaking it with a sickening crunch.

Anko gasped in pain and cradled her hand to her body. She attempted to punch at Naruto with her good hand, but the punch was caught, and naruto twisted her arm painfully behind her back. Holding a kunai to her throat, he simply said, "Give." Anko nodded. "Alright, you win. God, if Kakashi finds out about this, I'll never live it down."

Naruto released her arm and removed his kunai, allowing her to sit down, shoulders sagging from a mixture of relief and pain. Anko examined her broken hand a moment before shaking her head. "Damn, Kid. You really messed me up. I had some other things I wanted to cover today, but those will have to wait. I need to get this hand checked out."

"Nonsense," Naruto said, "I can heal you myself." Anko looked at him skeptically, but held out her hand to him nonetheless. He gently covered her hand with his, while his hands started glowing a deep, forest green color. Anko smiled at the warm sensation that spread through her body, and frowned when it left a moment later, only to be pleasantly surprised when she noticed that her hand was perfectly healed.

"Awesome!" Anko yelled. "I hate hospitals, so this is great! Now we can-" she was interrupted by the arrival of a regular sized snake, who appeared in a puff of smoke on Anko's shoulder. Anko listened to the snake whisper in her ear for several minutes with a surprised look on her face, occasionally nodding.

After the snake the snake was done talking, it looked at Anko questioningly. She shrugged and said, "It's alright with me. He's already proven himself, as far as I'm concerned." The snake turned towards Naruto and hissed, **"Greetingsss, Naruto-ssama. I have come to offer you the chance to ssign our ssummoning contract."**

'**Kit, you shouldn't do that. Their leader, Manda, is one of Orochimaru's allies. He could be doing this to spy on you. Plus, you already know that you have full command over the Kitsune Armies. You can summon thousands of capable fighters in an instant! You don't need smelly snakes. ' **Kitanesaid in Naruto's mind.

'I know that, but this could prove beneficial. Turning them down could be perceived as an insult, and I feel no need to make enemies with them. Besides, if I play my cards right, I might be able to rob Orochimaru of a valuable ally. I think the benefits far outweigh the risks." Kitane was forced to concede to Naruto's logic.

Naruto nodded. "I will accept your offer. It is very rare for a Summon to request a specific summoner."

"Very well, Naruto-ssama. However, after you ssign the sscroll, you will have to sssummon our leader, Manda-ssama before you can ssummon any other ssnake."

"Whoa, hold on there," Anko said, alarmed. "I had to do the same thing when I started summoning snakes, but that was when I was a Genin, before Orochimaru betrayed the village. If you summon Manda now, he'd most likely eat you."

The snake shook its head. **"I assure you, that is not the case. In fact, thisss invitation comesss directly from Manda-ssama himsself."**

Anko looked at the snake surprisedly. "No shit? I thought Manda was allied with Orochimaru?" **"There have been ssome…new developments, you will have to take it up with Manda-ssama himsself." **The snake replied. The snake-summoning scroll appeared next to the snake in a puff of smoke, and Naruto rolled it open, seeing that the only names on it were Anko's and Orochimaru's. He bit his thumb, drawing blood, and wrote his name in the space above Anko's name. The then smeared more blood on each of his fingers, and put his fingerprints on the scroll next to his name.

The snake nodded to Naruto, and to Anko, and disappeared along with the scroll. Naruto performed the necessary hand seals, bit his thumb, and slammed it on the ground. **"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" **Naruto yelled. A huge amount of smoke appeared, revealing a gigantic purple pit viper. When the smoke cleared, the snake looked down at Naruto, and said in a loud voice, **"You must be Naruto. I heard of your strength from my subordinate, who you defeated earlier. As you know, I am an ally of Orochimaru. However, I have been trying to distance myself from that man ever since I found out that he used a forbidden jutsu to bind several of my subordinates to this world, so that he could perform experiments on them. I tried to kill him for that, but he was able to slip away. The Snake clan no longer has any affiliation with Orochimaru. We have been searching for a suitable summoner ever since. When I heard of the ease with which you defeated my subordinate, I knew you would be right. So, my offer is this. We will allow you to summon us, provided that you do everything in your power to kill Orochimaru."**

Naruto bowed to the giant snake and said, "I want nothing more in this world than to have that bastard's head on a stake. I will gladly kill him." Manda nodded and said, **"Excellent. Feel free to summon me, should you ever need my help."** With that, he vanished in another giant puff of smoke.

Anko was staring with disbelief during the entire exchange. "Damn, kid. Just damn. You're dismissed for today, I need to tell the Hokage that you passed." Anko then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hokage's office

The Jounin whose teams had passed the tests they had been given now stood in the Hokage's office. The only three there were Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai. "So you three are the only ones whose teams passed, huh." The Hokage commented. "Kakashi, I'm surprised our team managed to pass this time."

Suddenly, the door to the office opened loudly, revealing a tired-looking Anko. "Namikaze Naruto passes." She said tiredly, before collapsing in a chair. Kurenai looked at her strangely. "Anko, I didn't know you were getting a student." Kakashi turned to the Hokage and asked, "Is this why my request to have Naruto put on my team was denied?"

Sarutobi nodded and said, "Yes. I didn't want to put naruto on a team, and you seemed best to teach Sasuke." "I would have taken Naruto as an apprentice, and you know it! Hokage-sama, you know how important this was to me." Kakashi said angrily.

Sarutobi turned to Anko and asked, "So, what kind of test did you decide to give Naruto? I assume he managed to pass it, yes?" Anko looked at the expectant faces and chuckled. "Oh, you guys are gonna love this." She then told them all about the tests she had given Naruto, how he had healed her broken hand, and about his meeting with Manda. Needless to say, when Anko was done telling them what had happened, they were all gaping just as she had been.

Kurenai shook her head and said, "Wow. That kid is amazing. He hid from you for a whole hour using a genjutsu and masking his chakra?" Asuma spoke up, "I'm impressed how he thought to distract you with false trails. The kid's definitely a strategist." Kakashi said, "Yeah, and it sounds like he was just toying with you during your fight. You say he used a jutsu without any hand seals to kill a giant snake? It takes lots of skill to be able to do that, especially with a jutsu that big."

Sarutobi said, "Are you sure of the situation with Manda? Orochimaru could be using him to spy on the village." Anko shook her head. "Even if that were true, he wouldn't be able to get any really valuable information. The benefits far outweigh the potential risks. Besides, experimenting on his summons is exactly the kind of thing Orochimaru would do."

Sarutobi nodded and said, "Very well. I trust your judgement, Anko-chan. Any way, that about concludes our business here. Anko, the next time you see Naruto, please tell him that you two will be getting your first mission tomorrow."

A flash of light suddenly appeared in the room, putting all the Jounin on guard. They relaxed, however when they saw it was Naruto. "No need to tell me, I'm already here."

"Ok, this has been bothering me for awhile. What the hell is that technique you use? These random surprises cannot be good for my health." Sarutobi said. Naruto shrugged and replied, "Modified Hiraishin. But anyway, that's not why I'm here. I heard you guys talking, and I was wondering why Kakashi-san asked to have me put on his team."

"Modified Hiraishin?" Sarutobi asked surprisedly. Naruto groaned. "Yes, modified. I was trying to figure it out on my own a couple years ago, and I discovered a way to make it work without the need for seals. I've also made several variations of the Rasengan. Now can I get my question answered?"

Sarutobi just shook his head disbelievingly. Kakashi turned to naruto and said, "I wanted to have the opportunity to get to know you. You see, your father trained me when I was a Genin. When my father died, Sensei became like a father to me. We were very close."

Naruto nodded and said, "I understand. Well, then we should train together sometime. I could show you some of the jutsu I invented." "I would like that." Kakashi replied, giving one of his patented eye smiles.

Anko jumped out of her chair and motioned for Naruto to follow her. "Come on, kid. I still have some shit to talk to you about, so we might as well get something to eat." Naruto shrugged and followed her out the door.

"He's a bit strange, don't you think?" asked Kurenai after the two left.

"Indeed."

After making their way through the village, Naruto and Anko stopped at a dango stand to have their conversation. "So, I meant to ask these things earlier, but the whole business with Manda distracted me. I have a few questions I want to ask you." Anko said as she finished a stick of dango.

"Fire away." Naruto replied. Anko paused in consideration for a moment before asking, "What's up with you're eyes?" Naruto rolled said eyes and answered, "Why does everybody ask that? Any way, let's just say there because of the Kyuubi. Next question?"

"Where did you go for the last seven years, and how did you get so strong?"

"I'll answer those later. Next question."

"Earlier, when you refused to use your sword, you made it sound as of you had killed before. Have you?"

"Many times."

Anko paused at this, considering her next question carefully. "Ok, well that was informative. If we're going to be taking high-level missions together, I want to have at least a general idea of your strength. How strong would you say you are?"

Naruto smirked. "Guess." He said. Anko thought for a moment, answering, "Well, you took me down pretty easily, so you're at least high Jounin. If I had to guess, I would say mid-to-high ANBU level, which I'll admit, is very impressive for someone your age."

Naruto debated with himself for a moment, before deciding to tell her the truth. "Well, that was a very good guess, based on the abilities that I demonstrated earlier. However, you failed to take into account the abilities that I may not have shown you. The truth is, I am far above Kage level."

"Sure, kid." Anko laughed. "I'll admit you're strong, but don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?" "Not at all." Naruto replied. "You asked where I've been for the last seven years? How I got so strong? I am ready to answer those questions." With that, Naruto grabbed Anko by the shoulder, and teleported them away.

They reappeared in their training clearing in the Forest of Death, with Anko slightly disoriented from the unexpected trip. She turned to see Naruto removing his coat and sword, setting them on the ground and leaving him in his vest and shirt. Anko felt her cheeks tinge slightly at seeing Naruto's muscled form.

"Like you said Anko, as my teammate you deserve to know the full extent of my abilities. It could hamper our teamwork, and could potentially prove fatal if one of us made a mistake. Additionally, the foundation of any good teamwork is trust. If I am constantly hiding things from you, it creates a lack of trust, and we will not be as effective as a unit. Please keep in mind that the Hokage already knows of what I am about to show you."

Anko could only nod, feeling a knot of anticipation and a little fear building in her stomach. Seeing Anko's nod of confirmation, Naruto closed his eyes. Staring in fascination, Anko watched as Naruto's form shimmered for a moment before revealing something that, in all honesty, frightened her. She saw as Naruto's ears seemingly vanished off his head, being replaced by a pair of fox ears on top. She saw as nine long tails materialized behind Naruto, one by one. The transformation complete, Anko looked into Naruto's blood red eyes, finally recognizing them for what they were. They were the eyes of the Kyuubi.

Looking into those eyes, she noticed that these were not the eyes of the enraged beast from so many years ago. There was no hate or malice anywhere in those eyes, nor could she sense any trace of the malicious aura that the Kyuubi had had around it. In fact, those eyes were almost soothing to look into. Remembering the words that naruto had spoken before his transformation, she relaxed somewhat. Anko trusted the Hokage, and if he trusted Naruto, then that was good enough for her. Still, of all the things she was expecting, this was not on the list.

"H-how is this possible?" she stammered. "I knew you were the Kyuubi's jinchurriki, but this is just…will you please explain to me what is going on?"

Naruto gave her a nod and a reassuring smile before proceeding to explain everything to Anko. He told her about the attack, waking up in his mind, learning of his parentage and the fact that he was dying, meeting the Shinigami, being given a second chance at life at the cost of his humanity, his time spent in Makai and the home he had found there, and his eventual departure to roam the Elemental Countries, his encounter with Jiraiya and finally his return to the village.

By the end of his tale, night had fallen, and they were both lying on their backs, looking up at the stars. "Wow." Anko said. "To think that someone your age has gone through so much. And here the other people your age haven't even been out of the village."

Naruto chuckled. "Their time will come soon enough. For the most part, they are still children. They do not need to rush so hurriedly into adulthood."

Anko sat up and looked at Naruto. "But what about you? You're the same age as them. You're still a child too." Naruto shook his head. "I stopped being a child seven years ago, Anko. I became a leader, someone that people would look up to. With the kind of power I have, I gained responsibilities that no child could handle. I chose to become what I was needed to be that night. I chose to stop being a child. And never once have I regretted that choice."

They were silent for several minutes before Anko asked, "Naruto? When was the first time you killed?" Naruto was silent for a moment before answering, "It was two days after I left Makai. I wandered into a small village to refill my supplies, but entering I found only death. Everyone in the village had been slaughtered and left to rot in the sun. They had stacked the bodies in the center of the village, piled up like garbage. They had cut the children's heads off, even the babies, and put them all on stakes around the pile of dead villagers. I tracked the scent of blood to the forest near by. When I found the camp of a group a large group of bandits, I knew they were responsible. One of them was holding a small child above his head, laughing as he threw the child into a pit of fire. The screams were too much…I just let myself go. When I regained consciousness, I was standing in the middle of a mile-wide crater, nothing but ash remaining of those men. After that, I returned to the village, and buried every one of the four hundred and sixty nine people who had been murdered for the sake of entertainment."

Anko stared at Naruto, shocked. "That was you! People were talking about that for months!" Naruto just stared ahead. "I changed, after that. I promised myself, promised all of the people who had died there, that I would never let something like that happen ever again. People like those bandits, who kill only for their own pleasure, and treat others as their playthings do not deserve to live."

Anko nodded. "I agree. I had a somewhat similar experience when I was young. Back then, I was the strongest Kunoichi to come out of the Academy since Tsunade. I, along with two others, was put on a team with the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru as our Sensei. He turned us into killing made us his soldiers. He made us love him. So, when he asked me to kill my teammates, I barely hesitated. I helped him do things, things that I knew were wrong, and I knew I should have told someone. Yet I was so devoted to Oro-Sensei, that I couldn't see that he was just using me, that he never loved me the way he made me love him. And when he was done with me, when I was of no further use to him, he put this curse mark on me, and tossed me away like trash. The ANBU found me outside the village, barely alive. They interrogated me for hours, asked me questions to which I had no answer, and so I just sat there, not speaking to anyone. Finally, I was summoned to the Hokage's Office. I was sure that he was about to tell me that I was going to be executed, but then, he came around his desk and hugged me, told me that what had happened was not my fault. That I was not to blame for the crimes of my sensei. He gave me a reason to continue living. The rest of the village couldn't see what he saw, though. All they saw was my connection to Orochimaru, the traitor. I was an outcast, a pariah. They called me the 'Snake Whore', and that's all I was to them. So I swore that I would hunt down and kill my former Sensei, and prove to this village that I was more than what my teacher had made me into."

As Anko finished, she had tears in her eyes from reliving the memories of her past. She almost jumped as she felt Naruto put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We're two of a kind, Anko. Orochimaru is the cause of both our problems. We will hunt him together, and we won't stop until we rip that bastard's head from his body." He said in a strong and confident voice. Anko smiled. "Thank you, Naruto." Naruto smiled back at her.

Anko looked at her watch, and noticed that it was past midnight. "We need to get some sleep. We have our first mission tomorrow." She said. Naruto shrugged. "I'm just going to sleep out here, it's a nice night, and I like having the stars above me." He rolled his coat into a pillow and laid his head down on it, stretching out on the ground. Anko shrugged, and laid down next to him. "I think I'll join you." She rested her head on his chest, and closed her eyes, almost asleep already. Naruto smiled. "Good night, Anko."

In her half awake haze she mumbled, "Good night, Naruto-kun." Naruto just smiled and wrapped his tails around the two of them before drifting off to sleep.

Finished. This chapter is shorter than average, but I felt that this would be a good place to end it. Besides, I'm starting on chapter five almost immediately, and I'll be a lot longer. The song for this chapter is Come Alive by Foo Fighters.

**Remember to review this chapter, and as always, thank you to those that have taken the time to review. The next chapter will mark the beginning of the Wave Arc. Yes, I know it's overdone, but it won't be just another retelling of the same events, I can guarantee that.**

**I threw in a little Naru-Anko romance in there, so let me know what you thought of that. I found a good English-Japanese translator, so thanks to anybody who might have had a suggestion, but it won't be needed. Once again, Chapter five will be up within three days tops.**

**Don't Fear the Reaper,**

**Kumo no Shinigami**


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, this took longer than expected. I had stuff to do, I was busy, yadda yadda who gives a crap. On with the show!

Previous Chapter

_Anko looked at her watch, and noticed that it was past midnight. "We need to get some sleep. We have our first mission tomorrow." She said. Naruto shrugged. "I'm just going to sleep out here, it's a nice night, and I like having the stars above me." He rolled his coat into a pillow and laid his head down on it, stretching out on the ground. Anko shrugged, and laid down next to him. "I think I'll join you." She rested her head on his chest, and closed her eyes, almost asleep already. Naruto smiled. "Good night, Anko."_

_In her half awake haze she mumbled, "Good night, Naruto-kun." Naruto just smiled and wrapped his tails around the two of them before drifting off to sleep._

Chapter Five: Schism

Naruto woke up feeling extremely peaceful. He was laying in the middle of a beautiful clearing with the sun steaming over him, listening to the birds chirping in the early morning. By the position of the sun in the sky, Naruto guessed that it was about seven.

A sudden snore drew Naruto's attention to the woman draped across his chest. Somehow, she had gotten a hold of one of Naruto's tails, and was stroking it in her sleep, producing some very pleasurable sensations for Naruto. He quickly created a Kage bunshin and performed a kawarimi with it, being careful not to wake Anko. He set off into the forest, searching for something to hunt.

He came back twenty minutes later with a deer slung over his shoulder. Honestly, he had no idea what a deer of all things was doing in the Forest of Death. Forgetting that, he proceeded to skin the deer and cut it into steaks, building a small fire pit with a doton jutsu and igniting a fire in it with a thought. He set the meat on the grill he had unsealed from a small scroll, and left a Kage bunshin to watch it while he created another such fire, this time with a frying pan, and proceeded to crack several eggs he had managed to scavenge into the pan.

Anko was awoken by the smell of the food cooking, and opened her eyes to see two Naruto's each cooking over a different fire. "Breakfast?" she asked. Naruto put a finished steak on a plate he had unsealed along with some of the scrambled eggs he had cooked. Accepting the plate, Anko inhaled the scent of the food. It smelled wonderful. She dug in hungrily, finding that it tasted even better than it smelled. Despite the fact that it hadn't been seasoned other than a little salt, it was still the best steak Anko had ever had. "Oh, yeah." Anko said as she finished her food. "You'll be cooking for us on missions from now on."

Naruto chuckled and began eating his own plate of food. After he had finished, he washed of the dishes with a small suiton jutsu before sealing them away again. He dispelled the fires he had created and decided to leave the left over food there for the wildlife. By this time, it was almost eight.

Anko looked at Naruto and smirked. "You know, Naruto-kun, your chest is pretty comfortable. Best sleep of my life." Naruto laughed at that and said, "Please feel free to use me as a pillow whenever you see fit." Anko laughed and said, "I just might take you up on that. But now, we need to get our first mission." Naruto nodded put up his illusion before teleporting the two of them to the missions' office.

They arrived in the usual flash of light, startling the people working there. Naruto saw that Sarutobi was handing out missions today, and he and Anko went to greet him. "Hey old man." They both said at the same time. Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at their synchronization, but smiled and said, "Good morning, you two. I take it you are here to receive your first mission?"

Anko nodded and said, "Yep. C-rank, like we agreed on." The Hokage chuckled and said, "Don't worry Anko-chan, I haven't forgotten our agreement. A C-rank, as promised." He fished a scroll off of the cluttered table, handing it to Anko. "Tazuna-san, you may enter now." He called.

The door opened to reveal a drunk-looking man with a bottle of sake in his hand and the smell of alcohol on his breath. "These are my super bodyguards?" he asked drunkenly. "You sure they're enough?" Sarutobi nodded and said, "Yes, Tazuna-san. These two would be enough to guard you from any threat, be they bandits, or even ninja. They will be more than enough for a simple escort trip."

Sarutobi addressed naruto and Anko and said, "Your mission is simply to escort Tazuna-san back to Nami no Kuni and protect him while he finishes building his bridge. You may leave whenever you are ready." Anko nodded and turned towards Tazuna. "When will you be ready to go?" The old man answered, "Whenever you are. The sooner we leave, the better."

Anko turned to Naruto. "Do you mind…" Naruto nodded and grabbed Anko and Tazuna by the shoulders, teleporting them away.

They reappeared just outside the gates in a flash of light. Anko, having been ready for the transportation, was less disoriented than Tazuna, who stumbled off into the bushes to empty his stomach. Anko stared around and asked, "Can't you use that to get us all the way there?" Naruto grimaced. "I would, but as you can see, civilians tend to have somewhat adverse reactions to teleportation. We'll be going on foot."

Tazuna emerged from the bushes looking slightly pale. "Yes, I think that would be best. Please, let's not do that again." The three of them then set off down the road that lead towards Nami no Kuni. Once they were a suitable distance form the gates, and Naruto was sure they were not being followed, Naruto released his illusion.

"What the hell!" Tazuna shouted. "Why did this kid just sprout tails?" Naruto looked at Tazuna and said, "It's complicated." He continued walking without a word. Tazuna continued on, shaking his head and chalking it up to weird ninja stuff.

As they made their way down the road, they passed a puddle in the middle of the road. 'Honestly, how stupid do they think we are?' Naruto thought. 'It hasn't rained in weeks.' He turned to Anko and said, "Nice weather we've been having lately, don't you think, Anko?" Seeing the puddle, Anko got the message and replied, "Yeah, it sure is."

When they passed the puddle, two figures slowly began to rise out of it. Seeing their target's backs turned, they rushed at them, hoping to catch them by surprise. However, when they reached the tallest one, hoping to take him out first, he drew his sword so fast that their eyes could not follow, and sliced their chain in half before they could wrap him in it.

The two assassins glared at naruto, and rushed at him. Naruto ducked a gauntlet slash from one of them, and stabbed him in the heart, killing him. The other howled in rage and threw himself at Naruto, attacking wildly. Naruto blocked a slash, and cut the assassin's legs out from underneath him. The man landed on the stumps of his former legs, causing him to scream in pain, and Naruto decapitated him, cutting his screams short. While this all happened, Anko and Tazuna looked on, Anko being impressed, Tazuna being sickened by the sounds of pain.

Anko raised an eyebrow and asked, " Shouldn't you have kept one alive to interrogate?" Naruto shrugged and responded, "I know who they were, and they were probably here to assassinate Tazuna, which would mean he lied about the mission." Turning to Tazuna, he asked, "Care to explain?"

Tazuna swallowed nervously and replied, "Well, you see, my about a year ago, a man named Gato came to my country, and started taking control of all trade in and out of the country. Now, he controls everything, and the people are suffering. Even the Daimyo can't do anything. But this bridge I'm working on would connect us to the mainland and save our country. But Gato doesn't want that. He likes being in control. You see, he may be a legitimate businessman on the surface, but his company is a front for all kinds of illegal activity. Drugs, smuggling, human trafficking, you name it. He makes an example of anyone who dares to speak against him, and the people are afraid for their lives. He's tried several times to sabotage my bridge, so I had to hire ninjas to fight the ones he sent after me. Please, will you help me and my country?"

As Anko was about to say something, Naruto spoke up and said, "Sure. Just pay the full amount for the correct rank of the mission when your country gets back on its feet. I'll need to send a message to the Hokage to let him know the situation, but after that, we can be on our way." Tazuna sighed in relief, and looked at Anko. She just slumped and said, "Yeah, what he said."

Naruto created a shadow clone, which disappeared in a flash of light. Anko looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sending a message to the Hokage. This way is much safer than any other form of communication, since we don't have to worry about the message being intercepted." Naruto explained. Anko grinned and said, "You're pretty smart. That's good. If you weren't already immortal, I'm sure you'd be one of the few ninja to actually retire."

Naruto smiled, and went to cut the heads off of the ninja he had killed. Sealing the heads in scrolls, he handed them to Anko, saying, "Here. Gozu and Meizu, known as the Demon Brothers, B-rank missing-nin of Kirigakure. You can collect the bounties when we get back to Konoha. I'd take them myself, but I don't really need the money." Anko accepted the scrolls. "Uhh, thanks, I guess." She replied.

After several more hours of walking, they reached the boat that would be taking them to the mainland. They made their way on slowly to the island that was Nami no Kuni, rowing instead of using the boat's engine so as to not draw attention to themselves. After some time, they finally made it to shore, stepping off the boat and thanking the man who had taken them there.

After walking down the road about half an hour, their vision started to be obscured by fog. As they neared a small lake ahead, Naruto suddenly threw a kunai into the bushes. However, everybody relaxed when they saw a small white rabbit run out of the bushes. Naruto narrowed his eyes. This time of year, the rabbit's fur should have been darker. He realized what was happening before quickly turning to block a flurry of senbon from behind them. At the same time, he heard a whistling in the air.

He quickly threw himself in front of Tazuna, shoving him and Anko down, as a large zanbatou flew threw the air at them. Recognizing the blade, Naruto's eyes widened as he raised his hand and caught the sword by the handle in mid-spin. Leaning on the seven-and-a-half foot sword, Naruto yelled out into the fog, "Zabuza! Get your ass out here! And bring Haku!" He heard a faint gasp of surprise from somewhere in the trees behind him.

As two people appeared out of the mist in front of him, the taller one, a shirtless man with bandages over is mouth, asked, "Who the hell are you, and how do you know who Haku is?" Naruto laughed sinisterly and pulled back his hood, revealing his face and ears. Smiling, he said, " Hey Zabuza, Haku-chan, how's it going?"

Naruto was suddenly tackle glomped by the shorter figure called Haku. "Naruto-sensei! It's been so long!" after he got up, the man called Zabuza greeted him with a hug and a slap on the back. "Damn, kid! You got taller! Picked up a sword, too. We'll have to spar later!" Naruto laughed and said, "Definitely. It's great to see you guys!"

Anko and Tazuna just stared on, utterly confused. They had just suddenly been attacked by two random ninja, who Naruto was apparently best friends with. Anko spoke up, "Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here!" Naruto turned to Anko and replied, "These are my friends, Momochi Zabuza, and his adopted daughter/student, Haku. I met them a few years ago on my travels."

Anko stared in shock. "Momochi Zabuza? The Demon of the Mist? The famous A-rank missing nin? How the hell did you meet him?" Naruto explained, "Well, a few years ago, I was in Mizu no Kuni, and I saw these two being chased by hunter nin. So, I decided to help them out. After I got rid of them, Haku told me that she had a rare bloodline, Hyoton. Since she was still trying to learn how to use it, and since I can use it as well, I stuck around for a few months to help train her, and after awhile, we all became close friends. Eventually, however, they had to leave the country, and I had to go finish my business elsewhere. This is our first time seeing each other since then, though."

Anko shook her head and snorted. "I suppose by now I should stop being surprised by anything you do." Naruto chuckled and turned back to Zabuza. "So I take it you guys were the ones hired to kill Tazuna?" Tazuna paled at this. Zabuza just waved him off, saying, "Bah, screw that. That bastard Gato was never planning on paying us anyway. I could smell his treachery from a mile away." Naruto smiled and said, "Great! I was planning on killing him while we were here anyway." Everybody laughed, and they all continued down the road to Tazuna's house, chatting amongst themselves.

Anko turned to Zabuza and asked, "So, why'd you leave Kiri, anyway?" Zabuza answered, "Failed coup against the Yondaime Mizukage. That bastard is a total sociopath. Well, was, anyway." Anko quirked an eyebrow. "Was?" Zabuza chuckled. "Yeah, was, until Naruto ripped him a new one. You should have seen the kid. That poor bastard Yagura never stood a chance. Naruto didn't kill him, though. Nah, from what I saw, he just grabbed the bastard by the head, and they both went into some kind of trance. Naruto said he was speaking to the demon inside Yagura. Not many knew this, but Yagura was the jinchurriki of the Sanbi. Of course Naruto, being the Kyuubi and whatnot, is the Sanbi's superior, so it had no choice but to obey him. He did some sort of merging, like what happened to Naruto when he fused with Kyuubi. Now Yagura is he new Sanbi, and Naruto's subordinate. Last I heard of him, he was in Makai trying to master his new abilities and repent for his crimes against humanity. It was one hell of a thing to see. Of course, Naruto was hailed as a hero by the entire country. I think they erected a statue in his honor in Kiri. They offered him the position of Mizukage, but he turned it down, saying that he had business to take care of in other countries." Zabuza said all of this casually, as if he was talking about the weather.

Anko however, was desperately trying to process all she had learned. Seeing the flabbergasted look on her face, Naruto snorted. This seemed to snap Anko out of her daze, and she said, "I was wrong. There is so much you can do to surprise me. The Hero of Mizu no Kuni is someone the whole world talks about, and nobody outside the country knows who he is. I can't believe you were offered the Mizukage position at like, what? Age twelve? Shit." Naruto and Zabuza laughed at her reaction.

Tazuna, however, had been staring at Naruto for the past several minutes with his eyes wide and his jaw hanging wide open. "You…you're…the…Kyuubi?" he asked weakly. Naruto just turned to him and said, "Count the tails, bub." Tazuna's eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted on the spot. Naruto stepped back from him. "I'm not carrying him." He said. Zabuza shook his head. "Me either." "Definitely not me." Anko said. They all turned to stare at Haku. "What?" she said. "Don't look at me." They just kept staring.

Luckily, Tazuna chose that moment to wake up. He opened his eyes blearily, mumbling, "What the hell just happened? I could have sworn I saw…" he trailed off as he saw Naruto standing above him with a huge grin on his face, poking him in the stomach with a long red tail. "Hey, old geezer, you ready to go? Oh hey, guys, Tazuna fainted again!"

Chuckling to himself, Naruto woke Tazuna with a small suiton jutsu to the face. Tazuna awoke, sputtering and wide-eyed. Naruto stood in front of him and offered a hand to help him up. "Don't feel bad, Tazuna-san. That's pretty much how everybody reacts." Tazuna just nodded shakily and continued walking in the direction of his home.

Elsewhere

Inside a large building in the middle of a forest, A very short balding man with sunglasses was sitting at a desk, counting his money while humming a merry tune. This man's name was Gato.

The reason that Gato was in such a good mood, was that two ninja he had hired were about to take care of a very prominent thorn in his side. For several months, the bridge builder Tazuna and his workers had been attempting to build a bridge to the mainland, in hopes of breaking Gato's control. But Gato didn't want that, so he hired the ninja to take care of him. Yes, Gato was n a very good mood.

As he finished counting the last of his money, Gato felt the room grow slightly colder. Knowing what was about to come, Gato swallowed nervously. Meeting with his new associates always made him agitated.

As the lights in his office began to flicker, the room's shadows began to condense and pool in three spots in front of his desk. Finally, the room went dark. As the lights went out, three figures appeared from the shadows in front of Gato's desk.

They were tall, two men and a woman, and their clothing seemed to be made of the shadows themselves. The only light in the room came from the eerie glow their bodies seemed to give off. The middle figure opened his mouth to speak, revealing sharp, pointed teeth. He had a dry, raspy voice, like fallen leaves rustling in the breeze.

"The ones you hired were not as reliable as they seemed, Gato-san. They have not only failed in the task you set them to, but have joined forces against you. We are very…disappointed in you." Gato's eyes widened. Disappointing these people was not something Gato wanted to do. "I apologize, Shimura-sama. I will hire others to elim-"

Gato was cut off by a glare from the figure known as Shimura. "You have already proven your incompetence in this matter, Gato-san. We will take care of these vermin with our own warriors. Be glad we have an interest in your affairs, or we would have disposed of you already. Do not fail us again."

Gato hurriedly nodded. "Yes, Shimura-sama. I swear, I will not disappoint you again. But, what will you have me do now?" Shimura answered, "Be at the bridge in one week. That should give you enough time to recuperate from your injuries." Gato paled. "I-injuries, Shimura-sama?" he questioned.

Shimura laughed, a sound that made Gato want to vomit. "You must pay the price for failure, Gato-san. Please, hold out your arm. Gato looked at him fearfully. Shimura said more forcefully, "Your arm, you pathetic sniveling coward! Hold out your arm!"

Gato shakily extended the appendage, and before he could even think of retracting it, a flash of silver came down and separated Gato's hand from his wrist. He fell to the ground, clutching his stump while sobbing and retching from he pain. Looking at the wound, Gato saw that it was cauterized, so he wouldn't bleed out.

Shimura looked down at Gato in disgust while wiping the blood off his blade. "Get up, you weakling." Gato slowly climbed to a standing position, cradling his stump and shaking in pain. "W-what d-do you wish of m-me, Shimura-sama?" Gato stammered. "You will not leave this building until it is time for you to go to the bridge. You will tell no one of our meeting, or how you received your injuries." Gato nodded quickly.

Shimura smiled in approval. "Good. We will be watching, Gato-san." And their forms seemed to expand outward, dissolving into shadows. The lights flickered, before coming back on. Gato went to his desk, and sagged in his chair.

Back with Naruto's group

After walking a while longer, the group of ninja came to a decent-sized two story house. Knocking on the front door, it opened to reveal a young woman with long dark hair. When she saw Tazuna, the woman breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door for them. "Please come in. My name is Tsunami; I'm Tazuna's daughter. Thank you so much for getting him here safely." The group of ninjas filed into the house, Tsunami's eyes widening as she saw Zabuza's giant sword.

The house was small, but comfortable. They entered into a small living room with several chairs spread around the room. Once they had all taken a seat, Tsunami left to get them all tea. Anko spoke up, "So, how are we gonna kill this Gato bastard?"

Naruto thought for a moment and answered, "We wait. I say we continue guarding Tazuna while he works on the bridge, and eventually Gato will have to send someone after us." Zabuza nodded. "We have no idea what Gato's next move will be. It makes sense to force him to take the initiative."

Anko raised an eyebrow at Zabuza's agreement. "I would have expected a more direct approach from someone known as the Demon of the Bloody Mist. Zabuza shrugged. Haku replied, "A side effect of sparring with Naruto is learning to plan things out." Anko just nodded knowingly.

As Tsunami arrived with their tea, she finally seemed to notice Naruto's strange features. "Excuse me, err, Naruto, was it? May I ask why you have such…animalistic features?" she asked politely. Naruto was about to answer, but Tazuna interjected from his seat on a couch, "He's the Kyuubi, sweetheart. Don't question it, just go with the flow." Tsunami looked at Naruto with wide eyes. He just waved and smiled.

After Tsunami left the room again, Tazuna spoke up, "So, I'll just be working on the bridge like normal, while you guys wait for Gato to send someone after me?" Everybody nodded. "Yeah, that about sums it up." Zabuza said. Tazuna shrugged. "Eh, what the hell. Sounds like a plan." He took a swig of his bottle of sake.

Naruto turned to Zabuza and Haku. "Hey, we've still got a few hours of daylight left. What do you say we go see how much stronger you guys have gotten?" Zabuza grinned. "I thought you'd never ask." The three of them left the house to find a sparring area while an interested Anko and Tazuna followed them to see the spar. Unbeknownst to them, however, they were followed by a child wearing overalls and a bucket hat.

Once they were a suitable distance away from the house, Naruto stopped in the middle of a semi-open patch of forest with a stream running through it. He took off his coat and sword, and set them aside. "Okay," he said, "Haku first. I want to see how you've progressed with your Hyoton. To make it fair, I will only be defending. Zabuza, if you would referee." Zabuza stood in between the two fighters, his arm held in the air. "On the count of three, okay? One…two…three…begin!" he yelled as he brought his arm down in a chopping motion and quickly got out of the way.

Haku jumped back a ways while performing hand seals. She yelled out, "**Dragon Claw: Hyoton!" **Two mini-cyclones rose up out of the stream, forming around Haku's hands and freezing, turning Haku's arms from the elbow down into wicked dragon claws.

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Getting right to the good stuff, eh Haku-chan?" he quipped. "Fine, I'll let you get a free hit in." He stood still in the middle of the clearing, arms held out at his sides. Haku gave a fierce battle cry before rushing at Naruto, plunging her arm directly into his solar plexus, her arm entering his body to her elbow.

Anko gasped in horror, afraid that her new teammate had just been killed. She was confused, however, by the sound of laughter. It was coming from Naruto. "Damn, Haku-chan! You've really been practicing! Unfortunately, that will be the only hit you land on me." He grabbed Haku's wrist, pulling her claw/arm out of his body. Anko watched, entranced as the wound healed as the claw was leaving his chest. By the time the arm was all the way out, there was no mark on Naruto to indicate that he had been so much a scratched, save for a hole in his shirt, which Anko noted was beginning to close as well.

Naruto, still holding Haku by the wrist, tuned and threw her away from him forcibly, ending with her drenched in the stream. Angry, she performed more hand seals, her earlier jutsu fading, and yelled out, **"Hyoton: Hail Storm!" **She lifted her arms, and dozens of small spheres of water, each about the size of a golf ball, lifted up out of the stream and froze solid. With a grunt of effort, Haku sent the icy projectiles raining down on Naruto in waves. Naruto nimbly danced in between the projectiles, a feat of dexterity and agility that Anko would not have believed possible had she not seen it herself.

As the projectiles stopped coming, and Naruto stopped moving, Haku sent one last ball directly at Naruto's face. When it was about a foot from his face, it was consumed in a sudden burst of fire, leaving nothing but steam behind. Haku smirked. As Naruto had been dodging her attack, she had been performing a lengthy string of hand seals. She finished the final one, calling out, **"Hyoton: Demonic Tundra!" ** A large wall of water rose out of the stream, before turning to snow and blowing towards Naruto very quickly. Naruto shielded his face from the onslaught.

When he uncovered his face, the entire clearing was blanketed in snow, and there was snow falling from the sky. Naruto whistled in appreciation. "Damn. You actually got that one down. Let's test it out, shall we?" As Naruto attempted to move, several large spike of ice shot towards him quickly. As he dodged them, more came after him. That was the secret of this jutsu. It forced the enemy to either hold completely still, of focus on dodging ice spikes. Whenever someone was caught in the jutsu, they would be fine as long as they didn't move. However, the slightest movement was detected in the snow, ice spikes would soot out at the source of the disturbance. It was a jutsu of Naruto's creation, which he had left on a scroll for Haku to train with. Apparently, she had been training. In fact, all of the jutsu Haku had used so far were created by Naruto.

Growing tired of the constant dodging, Naruto stopped, melting the snow around him with a swirl of fire. "That's enough for now, Haku-chan." He called out. The jutsu faded, turning the snow into water, and Haku came out from behind a tree, panting slightly. "Good, I'm starting to get low on chakra. So, how'd I do?" Naruto gave her a thumbs up. "Great. I can tell you've been working hard. Now, Zabuza's turn!" Zabuza jumped forward, hopping from foot to foot in anticipation. "Alright, Naruto, grab that sword and let's rock!" Naruto shook his head. "Sorry, Zabuza. I'm afraid my sword would cut right through yours. However, I do have an idea."

He gathered his chakra, and without hand seals, called out the name of his jutsu. **"Dragon Style: Kinzokuton!" **Naruto plunged his arms into the ground, and when he pulled them out, his arms were covered in metal, his fingers transformed into foot long claws.He grinned wickedly. "This should just about do it." Zabuza matched Naruto's grin, and the two of them got into their own fighting stances.

There was a moment of silence in the clearing, before the two rushed across the clearing at each other, meeting in the middle. Zabuza slashed upward at Naruto, hoping to split him from crotch to cranium. Naruto swept the cleaver away with one hand, while swiping at Zabuza with his other claw. He scored several cuts across Zabuza's chest, but the swordsman just shook it off. He brought his cleaver back around, sending slice after slice at Naruto, who dodged or parried all his strikes, while occasionally attacking back.

After a few minutes they broke apart, studying each other intently. Zabuza smirked. "Not bad, kid. What do you say we finish this with one last attack?" Naruto nodded. "Sounds good to me." The two launched at each other once more, faster than ever. Zabuza jumped, launching himself high into the air. As he came down, he brought his cleaver above his head, intending to chop Naruto in half. Naruto braced himself for the impact, and when he met Zabuza's ferocious swing; it created a cloud of dust, obscuring the two combatants from sight. The spectators watched with bated breath to see who had come out on top, and they watched closely as the dust began to clear.

After a moment, the dust was gone, revealing Naruto, holding Zabuza at bay with one hand, his other clawed hand at Zabuza's throat. The spectators cheered at the spectacular match they had witnessed, and the two fighters relaxed, shaking hands with each other. "Great match, kid. I can't believe you blocked that last attack, though. That was truly insane." Zabuza said. Naruto grinned, and the two of them began to walk back toward where the onlookers were observing the fight.

They walked back to where Anko and Tazuna were waiting, and they all began to walk back to the house. At this time, darkness had long since fallen. The group was thinking it was about time to head to sleep, when they heard a high scream that cut off suddenly. An ominous orange glow could be seen off in the distance. The group rushed back to the house as fast as they all could. They emerged from the forest, with the house in sight, and what they saw shocked them.

The house was in ruins; it's burning wood creating an eerie blow in the nighttime air. The upper floor looked like it had been blown apart, and the parts of the house that were intact had deep scratch marks along the wood, as if made by some kind of animal. Haku hurriedly put out the fires as best she could with a suiton jutsu, and Naruto extinguished anything left.

They rushed to the ruins of the house, Tazuna shouting for his daughter and grandchild. He desperately searched the ruins of the house for any sign of his family. Suddenly, they heard a small voice from outside the house. They hurried back outside, and quickly located the source of the cries for help.

Under a pile of rubble, Naruto found Tazuna's grandson Inari, curled up in ball clutching a bleeding wound in his side and barely conscious. "Inari!" Tazuna shouted worriedly. "What happened here? Where is your mother?" Inari looked at him with terrified eyes. "They took her! The monsters came and took her away!"

Naruto quickly placed his hands over Inari's wound, a deep gash in his side, and his hands glowed forest green. Inari was quickly healed, and fell asleep. Naruto handed him to Tazuna. Looking around, he saw strange tracks in the dirt that led off into the forest. He shouted, "Anko, come with me! Haku, Zabuza, stay behind and protect Tazuna!" He and Anko rushed off into the forest, following the tracks.

Aaaaand done! It took forever to finish this, mostly cause I had to rewrite it after I lost the entire chapter. Anyway, updates will be more scattered from now on, but I'll try to do at least one per week.

**Here's a list of the original jutsu I used:**

**Dragon Style: Hyoton/Kinzokuton**

**The Dragon Style jutsu are a set of jutsu invented by Naruto that transform a person's hands and upper arms into that of a dragon. The effects are different for each element. For example, in the Hyoton version, ice will spread from the point of contact with the claws.**

**Hyoton: Hail Storm**

**One of the first Hyoton jutsu that Naruto taught Haku, this attack causes many golf ball-sized spheres to rise up out of the water, freeze, and rain down on the opponent. Good for keeping an enemy busy.**

**Hyoton: Demonic Tundra**

**Covers the battlefield in a layer of semi-sentient snow, which detects movement and attacks in the direction of the disturbance. If an enemy stays still when the jutsu is put into effect, the snow will not attack them. However, this leaves them open to further attack from the user. The snow does not register the user's movement, allowing them to move freely around the battlefield.**

**Well, that's all for now. Please take the time to review. I feel like this was my best chapter yet, and I want to know what people thought of it. **

**Don't Fear The Reaper, **

**Kumo no Shinigami**


	6. Intermission

Hey there, boys and girls. This is Kumo no Shinigami here with an important announcement. As of now, I will not be working on this story for a while. I got an idea for a new story, and I just had to follow through. But don't worry; I will never give up on this story. I'll most likely go back to working on it in about a week, maybe longer. However long it takes me to write a few chapters for my new story. It won't be too long, though.

Edit 9/18/11:

Hey, there, everybody. I know it's been awhile, but the next chapter is almost finished! I had some technical difficulties, but those are all taken care of, and chapter six should be up in a few days.


	7. Chapter 6

Good news, fans of this story! I will be focusing on this for a while, probably posting at least three more chapters before I go back to my other story. I'll probably go back and forth like that, posting a few chapters and then switching to the other. All in all, you can probably expect updates about once a week, maybe more often if I get less lazy.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the song last chapter was Schism by Tool. I forgot to write it again.

**Previous Chapter:**

_Under a pile of rubble, Naruto found Tazuna's grandson Inari, curled up in ball clutching a bleeding wound in his side and barely conscious. "Inari!" Tazuna shouted worriedly. "What happened here? Where is your mother?" Inari looked at him with terrified eyes. "They took her! The monsters came and took her away!"_

_Naruto quickly placed his hands over Inari's wound, a deep gash in his side, and his hands glowed forest green. Inari was quickly healed, and fell asleep. Naruto handed him to Tazuna. Looking around, he saw strange tracks in the dirt that led off into the forest. He shouted, "Anko, come with me! Haku, Zabuza, stay behind and protect Tazuna!" He and Anko rushed off into the forest, following the tracks._

Chapter Six: The Night

Naruto and Anko followed the tracks deep into the forest, their minds trying to piece together what could have done this. As they progressed further into the forest, they came upon several large spider webs scattered throughout the trees. Naruto's eyes widened as he heard a rustle in the trees behind them. Naruto suddenly threw himself at Anko, tackling her to the ground. They barely missed being tackled by a dark shape that launched itself out of the forest.

Naruto and Anko quickly got to their feet, turning to see what had attacked them. What they saw was a gigantic spider, as big as a horse. Anko launched several kunai and shuriken at it, but they bounced off, not leaving a mark. The spider produced a sort of hissing scream, and threw itself at Anko. She jumped back, preparing to make hand seals, when she tripped on a root and fell backwards.

Defenseless, she closed her eyes as the spider pounced on her. She was surprised when she felt no pain. She opened her eyes to see Naruto in front of her, his sword through the spider's face. The faint glow given off by the sword's blade allowed Anko to see the dark look on Naruto's face.

"What was that thing?" She asked. Naruto sheathed his sword and answered, "An Onigumo. A spider demon. It shouldn't be here. This isn't normal." Anko stepped around the corpse of the demon and said, "We should get back to the others. There could be more of these things." Naruto nodded and he grabbed Anko's shoulder before the two of them disappeared in a flash of red light.

They reappeared in front of the ruins of Tazuna's House to find Zabuza desperately trying to fight off two Onigumo of the same size as the one Naruto and Anko encountered. Haku, who was guarding Tazuna and Inari, was slowly being backed into a corner by three more giant spiders that were approaching her.

Naruto seethed in rage at the demons attacking his friends. He raised his hand, and the Onigumo gave out simultaneous shrieks of pain. **"Enough!" **he shouted in a demonic tone. He clenched his fist, and all five spiders exploded in a shower of ash and fiery sparks.

Inari, who was now awake, stared with wide eyes at the smoldering piles of ash that had once been giant spiders. Zabuza whistled appreciatively. "Damn, kid. Those things sure don't stand a chance against you."

Naruto glanced at the forest, and after performing several hand seals said, **"Tajuu Kuchiyose no jutsu."** Ten large foxes, each as tall as a full-grown man, and each with five tails, appeared in swirls of fire. They were wearing ornate armor covered in many dents and scratches. They had seen many battles in their lifetimes.

The leader, a black fox with a scar across its left eye, bowed to Naruto and spoke in a growling voice, **"What do you wish of us, Naruto-sama?" **Naruto addressed the group of foxes, "I need five of you to stay here and protect these people, and five of you to come with me to search for someone. A large group of Onigumo is in the area, and they have taken my client's daughter."

The foxes nodded and split into two groups. One group stayed with Zabuza and the others, and the other group went with Naruto and Anko. Naruto's group quickly headed back into the forest to follow the tracks.

As they were moving through the forest, Anko asked Naruto, "So, why are there Onigumo here anyway?" Naruto shrugged. "I don't know." He replied. "There are plenty of Onigumo in this world, but I know that there have never been any on this island. Someone must have brought them here."

Anko furrowed her brow. "Well, can't you control them? You are the Lord of all demons, right?" Naruto shook his head, replying, "Onigumo have a hive mid. The regular ones are just mindless drones, all controlled by a queen. Somebody else must be in control of the queen. The question is, who?" Naruto and Anko both fell silent, returning to their search.

After several hours of searching, Naruto's group had found no trace of Tsunami or the Onigumo, aside from several large webs scattered throughout the forest. After a while, the tracks just stopped, along with the scent. Reluctantly, they pulled back and returned to Tazuna's house.

Tazuna was standing among the ruins of his house, a mournful look on his face. Naruto walked up beside him, saying, "I'm sorry. We didn't find her. But we won't stop looking." Tazuna nodded. "It's okay. You're doing everything you can. I just wish we still had the house."

Naruto thought for a moment. "I could build you another one if you want. It wouldn't take long." Tazuna looked over at him. "That would be great, if it's not too much trouble. The last thing we need right now is to be homeless." Naruto nodded, performing a few hand seals. He slapped his hand on the ground, and large pieces of wood began to shoot from the ground, interlocking with each other and forming into a house.

The others all watched in fascination as this process took place, until it stopped a few minutes later. Finally, the process halted, and Naruto drew a small scroll from his coat, unsealing the contents to reveal a small paintbrush and ink jar. He walked up to the house, and began to ink a complicated seal on the wall. When he was done, it glowed for a moment before vanishing.

"What was that?" Tazuna asked. Naruto replied, "A fireproofing seal. You wouldn't want your house to burn down again, right? The house itself is fireproof, but any furniture or other things you put in it won't be. Also, since I created the wood with my youki, it's stronger than normal, about as strong as most metals."

Tazuna whistled looking at the new house. It was two stories, same as the old one, but was much larger, and better looking, with an intricate pattern worked into the wood. "Wow," Tazuna said, "It looks a lot better. I'll have to get some new furniture, though. Everything was burned to cinders in the fire." Naruto nodded. "First, we have to focus on finding Tsunami."

Tazuna looked down. "Yeah, as soon as possible. I don't even want to think of what could have happened to her." Naruto thanked his foxes for their help, dismissing them. They bowed to him one last time before vanishing in swirls of fire. Tazuna and Inari walked inside their new house, and the group of ninja stayed outside to keep watch.

They took turns alternating watch shifts for a few hours, before they suddenly heard a scream of pain coming from inside the house. They quickly got up and ran inside, running up the stairs and bursting into a room to see Tazuna holding down Inari, who was thrashing about and yelling in pain. Naruto performed a few hand seals, and touched Inari on the forehead. The boy quit thrashing and fell still, occasionally giving off a slight shudder.

Naruto lifted up the boy's shirt, and saw that the skin around the wound he had healed earlier was swollen, with a sickly yellow tinge to it. "Shit!" Naruto cursed. "He's been poisoned by an Onigumo!" "Can you cure it?" Tazuna asked worriedly. "I can distill a cure, but I'll need venom from a Queen Onigumo. If there is a true colony on this island, then we have to find it within four days, or there is no hope for Inari."

Tazuna's eyes widened. "Will he die?" Tazuna asked. Naruto shook his head. "If he had received a smaller dose of venom, he would only suffer for a few days before dying. However, a dose this size is much worse. If we don't get him a cure, then he'll eventually transform into a cross between a human and an Onigumo. He'll go wild, attacking everybody he sees. Onigumo use these half-breeds as slave labor."

The color drained from Tazuna's face. Naruto stood, and began to walk out the door. "I'm going to go search for the nest. The rest of you stay here, guard the house. You'll be needed in case the Onigumo show up." He walked out of the house, beginning into the forest, when he sensed someone running up behind him.

He turned to see Anko coming up to him. "I'm going with you." she said. Naruto was silent for a moment, before nodding. The two began to run into the forest, in search of the Onigumo nest.

They ran through the forest, soon finding themselves at the place they were first attacked. Naruto gave the signal to stop, and he and Anko stopped in the trees, looking out into the clearing. There was a spider, slightly smaller than the ones they had seen so far, only about a foot tall, hurrying about the clearing, stopping in different areas, and then moving on. While the larger ones were black colored, this one was a phosphorescent green color, and its eight eyes were electric blue, with slitted black irises. It had a scorpion's tail attached to its rear, and its mandibles were dripping a clear liquid that was likely venom. It was a very chilling sight.

It stopped for a moment, at the edge of the clearing nearest Naruto and Anko. The ninja held their breath. Suddenly, the spider turned and looked directly at them, its body starting to vibrate quickly. "It's going to signal the others!" Naruto yelled. Anko quickly threw a kunai at the spider, which stuck in one of its legs. It screeched, running off quickly. Naruto ran after it, yelling, "Follow it! It'll return back to the nest!" the two ninja ran after the spider, following the trail of glowing green blood through the forest. The webs around them grew larger and more numerous as they progressed, but they were not attacked by anything.

Eventually, they came to a large clearing in the forest, with a large fallen tree in the center. The entire clearing, including the surrounding trees, was covered in a glowing green substance; similar to the color of the spider they had followed. Anko was about to run to the stump in the center, but was stopped by Naruto.

"Stop. This is wax, created by a special breed of Onigumo like the one we followed here. They cover their nests in it, as a defense. When the wax is broken, it alerts the spiders, known as Keepers, and they swarm the source of the disturbance, injecting their paralyzing toxin into the victim so it can't move. Then, they cover the victim in the wax, spinning more and more, until they're covered in it. And then the wax digests them, and the Keepers eat the wax. Then they spin more wax, and the cycle repeats."

Anko's eyes widened, and she looked closely at the wax, peering into it to see the decomposing body of a crow trapped beneath the surface, eyes glassy. "How do we get across?" she asked. "A distraction." Naruto replied. "The Keepers see heat, so we need to lure them away. After that, we need to get across the wax without breaking it. Should be simple enough. I can take care of the fire."

Anko nodded, taking a breath, and they retreated to the tree line, and Naruto waved his hand, a fire appearing on the wax on the opposite side of the clearing. Suddenly, the forest was filled with the sounds of screeching, and dozens of the small glowing Keepers appeared out of the trees, rushing to the fire. Naruto and Anko took their chance, jumping down from the trees and standing in front of the wax.

"That should keep them busy for at least ten minutes. It's only about a hundred feet to the stump, so of we take it slow, we should be able to make it. You go first." Anko nodded, removing her shinobi sandals and stepping out onto the wax. It had a cold feeling, and was slightly sticky. She shuddered, placing one foot after the other, carefully trying not to break the wax. Naruto soon followed her, removing his boots and moving at a slow pace. He had to use wind manipulation to decrease his body weight though, otherwise he would have instantly cracked the wax.

When they were nearly there, Naruto heard a screeching that he recognized as the signal to return to the wax. Anko was right next to him, and the two began hurrying as quick as they could. Finally, they reached the tree stump, which was hollow on the inside, and had a tunnel leading underground inside it. Naruto jumped down into the tunnel, sliding down a good twenty feet before landing in a crouch in the darkness. He heard Anko land next to him, and whispered, "Stay close. We don't want to be detected, not in here. No light, and stay quiet."

They progressed into a maze of tunnels, Naruto's night-vision guiding him through the darkness. As they walked on, the tunnels became wider and taller, and went from softer dirt to hard rock, leading downhill more and more. Suddenly, Naruto stopped, pressing himself and Anko against a wall. A very large spider, at least twelve feet tall, lumbered through a tunnel intersecting the one they were in, stopping for a moment and looking around before continuing on its way.

Anko let out a slight breath, and they continued moving. After what felt like an hour, they entered into a gigantic round cavern, many other tunnel entrances across the walls. The cavern was illuminated by what looked like balls of the Keeper's wax hanging from the ceiling. In the center, was a large dome of the glowing wax. Naruto pointed at it. "That's where we'll find the queen."

He cloaked himself and Anko as best as he could, using his Hyoton to coat them in a layer of frost before making them invisible. They made their way down to the dome of wax, which had several openings. They entered, and Anko was surprised by what she saw. Against one wall was the unconscious form of Tsunami, her skin pale and sweaty. In the middle of the dome, with its back turned to them, was a human-looking figure in a black cloak.

"_**I sense your presence." **_The figure said suddenly. _**"Reveal yourselves, Mortals." **_Naruto revealed himself, saying, "I am no mortal. I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and I am your rightful ruler. Now, what are you doing on this island?" The figure let out a hissing, raspy laugh. _**"Fool. We do not answer to you. We answer only to our true masters. Nothing you do here can stop what we have set in motion."**_

The figure turned, revealing its face. It was humanoid in shape, but that was as far as the resemblance went. It's two eyes were glowing pools of vile green, surrounded by the chitinous glossy black exoskeleton. It threw off its cloak, revealing the rest of its body. It had eight limbs, but walked upright, supporting itself on two legs. Each of its limbs ended in four long spindly finger-like appendages, which ended in claws. Its body was all the same glossy black, except for a glowing green spot on the torso. It had a scorpion tail, similar to the Keepers. It hissed, revealing a mouth of fangs.

Anko drew a kunai, rushing at it, but the creature was too fast, swatting her hand aside and shoving her backwards forcefully, causing her to slam against the wall of the dome. The creature was about to finish Anko when Naruto drew his sword. The creature laughed again. _**"Killing me will not save them. This world will fall, one way or another. Our masters will see to it." **_

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?" he asked. _**"You will know in time." **_The queen responded. It hissed, launching at Naruto. He swung his sword, cutting the creature in half as it charged. He pumped extra energy into the blade, making it even hotter, so the wound was cauterized, leaving the queen alive. Naruto walked up to it quickly, knowing that more spiders would come, attracted to the screams of pain. He forced its mouth open, holding a small vial underneath one of its fangs as he squeezed some venom out. When the vial was full, he sealed it, putting it away inside his coat. He drew his sword again, cutting the queen's head off and silencing it once and for all. He set the body aflame, burning it to cinders.

Naruto walked overt to the unconscious form of Tsunami, checking her over quickly. He was relieved to see that she had not been bitten, as he had only been able to collect enough venom for one person. He scooped her up, placing her over his shoulder, and helped up Anko, who was a little wobbly. They made their way out of the cavern, dozens of large Onigumo heading after them.

Naruto ran, carrying Tsunami as Anko followed after. They reached the tunnel, and Naruto turned back, creating a huge ball of fire in the center of the cavern. It slowly began to get smaller and smaller. Naruto turned back, running through the tunnels. They ran as fast as they could, forgoing stealth in favor of a quick escape. After about ten minutes, they could see the end of the tunnel, and the exit. The spiders were right on their tail, however. Naruto jumped up the tunnel leading to the surface, landing above ground. He waited as Anko emerged, taking hold of his hand to pull herself up. However, as she was about to exit the hole, she felt herself tugged backwards, a spider attempting to pull her back down. Naruto sent a blast of fire at it, making it let go and retreat. He pulled Anko up, carrying her as he ran across the wax, not caring about it.

Meanwhile, in the cavern, the huge ball of fire stopped shrinking, and was released. It exploded violently, filling the cavern with fire, which spilled out into the tunnels, destroying every spider still in there. Finally, it raced back up the entrance, incinerating the spiders trying to get out, and sending a huge jet of fire into the sky. The wax was ignited, burning intensely. Naruto jumped off the wax right before it was engulfed in flames, landing several meters away. He looked back at the burning nest, smiling in satisfaction.

He began running through the forest as quickly as he could, destroying webs as he went along. Eventually, he exited the forest, and made his way back to the others. He entered the house, running upstairs where the others were standing by Inari.

Tazuna saw Naruto carrying Tsunami, and rushed overt to him. "You found her! Is she hurt? Did she get poisoned?" Naruto shook his head. "No, she's just unconscious." He let Anko off his back, setting her on her feet. She winced in pain, collapsing to the floor. Naruto stooped down next to her, asking, "What's wrong?"

Anko moved her trench coat, revealing a large wound on her leg. The skin around it was already turning yellow. "I got bit when we were escaping." "Shit! I don't have enough venom for this!" Naruto yelled. "Heal the kid first, then worry about me." Anko said. Naruto nodded. "I'll figure something out." Anko leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes. Naruto went to a different room to begin working.

Naruto came back twenty minutes later holding a syringe in his hand. Everybody looked at him, and Tazuna asked, "Is that it? Will that cure him?" Naruto nodded. "Yes." Tazuna sighed in relief. Naruto walked over to Inari, injecting the needle into his neck. Naruto backed away, and everybody held their breath.

Soon, Inari's skin began to return to its normal color, and his breathing evened out. Naruto checked Inari, and found that there was no trace of the poison left in his system. "He'll be fine, he just needs to get some rest." He said. Everybody let out a sigh of relief.

Naruto walked over to Anko, who was still conscious. She looked up, asking, "So, what now?" Naruto was silent for a moment before he replied, "I might know something that could work. But it's extremely dangerous, and I can't guarantee it'll work. It might just speed up the transformation."

Anko shook her head. "I don't care. If there's any chance you can cure me, I want to take it. I'll endure anything." Naruto looked down. "Even if this works, I don't know what kind of side effects it could have on you. You might not even be human when you come out." Anko snorted. "Those bastards in Konoha already think of me as less than human as it is. Like I said, I'll endure anything."

Naruto nodded. "All right. I'll try." "Hey." Anko said. "If this fails, and I turn into one of those monsters, don't think twice about finishing me off." "I won't."

Naruto drew a kunai, and slashed his palm. He stopped the wound from closing, ad placed the bleeding hand on Anko's leg. He began to reach into Anko's body with his youki, grasping the poison, and pulling it back into his own bloodstream where he could safely destroy it. In some places, the poison had already affected Anko's body, and the best Naruto could do was prevent it from spreading further.

After about an hour, Naruto had drawn the last of the poison out of Anko's body. He withdrew his hand from Anko's leg, and allowed the cut on his palm to heal. He looked down, seeing that Anko had passed out. He covered her with a blanket, healing the wound on her leg. "They'll both be fine with a bit of rest." Naruto said. Tazuna nodded, and they all left the room. As Naruto walked out the door, he cast one last look back towards Anko.

**Sorry to end this chapter so soon, but I just thought that this was a good place to stop for now. Next chapter will be longer, I promise. I'll try to have it up as soon as I can. The song for this chapter was The Night by Disturbed.**


	8. Intermission II

Okay, I'm back. I have some good news, and some bad news. First, the good. Circumstances have arisen recently that will allow me to focus a lot more on my writing. I realize that the wait you've had to go through is inexcusable, and I hope that won't discourage you from continuing to read my stories. The bad mews, at lest for fans of this story, is that I will be postponing it for now to work on and hopefully finish my other story. If all goes well, I'll be done with The Half-Night King before the end of the year, and I can move on with this story. Please understand that I am doing this because I want to be able to give each story the attention it deserves, and produce the best writing I can. I will be posting a new chapter of this story within a few days though. I'm trying to get that done now. For now, here's a small omake to tide you over.

**Omake:**

A youngSasuke entered the front gates of his clan's compound to find the streets littered with corpses, and bathed in blood.

Hearing a scream off in the distance, his eyes widened and he took off, running towards the sound, which was coming from the direction of his house.

After a few minutes, he arrived in front of his house, to see the door splattered with blood. Hearing another scream from inside the house, he steeled himself, and charged into the house. The sight that met him was one that would haunt him for life.

He saw his older brother Itachi, the person he looked up to more than anyone else, standing over the bodies of his parents, katana dripping blood. He stood there, frozen in shock for what felt like an eternity, until Itachi turned to face him, eyes boring into his skull.

Sasuke flinched at the look in his brother's eyes, devoid of remorse. Sasuke managed to stutter out, "I-Itachi? What's g-going o-on? What have you done!" Sasuke began to charge towards his brother, but was stopped as a kunai grazed his cheek, embedding in the wall behind him.

Sasuke froze in fear once more, falling down on his rear. He began to back away, until his back hit the wall. He jumped when Itachi spoke. "Foolish little brother…so weak. So pathetic." He began to stride slowly towards Sasuke, who was quivering against the wall.

Finally something in Sasuke snapped, and he got to his feet, running out of the house as he yelled, "I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" He collapsed outside in the street again, falling to his knees. He felt someone approach and looked up, directly into has brother' Sharingan. But then the Sharingan started to shift and change, turning into a triple-bladed shuriken. Itachi whispered one word, and Sasuke knew no more. "Tsukiyomi."

Seeing his brother collapse in front of him, Itachi turned and ran. He knew the ANBU would be there soon, having heard the screams. With a shudder, he thought back to the incident that had caused him to mercilessly slaughter his entire clan.

Flashback: Twenty minutes before Sasuke's arrival

Itachi was sitting with his parents, enjoying a nice dinner, when a thought suddenly occurred to him. Pausing with his food halfway to his mouth, he looked up at his parents curiously, and asked, "Mother, do I have a middle name?" Mikoto smiled sweetly at her son, and replied, "Why, of course, dear. Your middle name is Hogarth."

Itachi twitched.

**Hope you like it. just something that came to me one day.**


	9. Chapter 7

**Please have mercy on me. I really didn't intend for it to take this long.**

**Previous Chapter:**

_Naruto drew a kunai, and slashed his palm. He stopped the wound from closing, ad placed the bleeding hand on Anko's leg. He began to reach into Anko's body with his youki, grasping the poison, and pulling it back into his own bloodstream where he could safely destroy it. In some places, the poison had already affected Anko's body, and the best Naruto could do was prevent it from spreading further._

After about an hour, Naruto had drawn the last of the poison out of Anko's body. He withdrew his hand from Anko's leg, and allowed the cut on his palm to heal. He looked down, seeing that Anko had passed out. He covered her with a blanket, healing the wound on her leg. "They'll both be fine with a bit of rest." Naruto said. Tazuna nodded, and they all left the room. As Naruto walked out the door, he cast one last look back towards Anko.

**Chapter Seven: Ready to Fall**

Naruto sat on the roof, thinking about what he had heard earlier. The Onigumo queen's words had troubled him. 'What do you think it meant?' He asked Kitane. Kitane was silent for several moments before he answered, 'I don't know.' Naruto frowned. It was unlike Kitane to sound so quiet.

He hopped down off of the roof, heading inside for breakfast. He had been sitting on the roof the entire night, keeping guard. As he walked inside, he was just in time to see Anko walking down the stairs, a big smile on her face. "I don't know what the hell you did to me kid, but I've never felt better in my life!" she yelled.

There were several changes on Anko's body that were immediately noticeable. First, her eyes had changed to a bright purplish color, with slitted pupils. Her body was taller, and her muscles looked much more sleek. Her fingernails were also much more like claws now, and her teeth were fang-like.

The thing that interested Naruto the most, however, was the clear liquid that was dripping from Anko's fingertips. A drop landed on the floor, sizzling through the wood. "Anko, look at your hand." Naruto said. Anko looked at the appendage, and was surprised to notice the liquid dripping from it. "Holy shit, where'd that come from? What the hell is going on?"

Naruto walked over to Anko, performing a diagnostic jutsu on her. "I thought this might happen." He said to himself. "What? What happened?" Anko asked nervously. "Well, when I was extracting the poison from your system, there were areas where doing so would have caused you great harm, or killed you. So, I had to contain it with my youki, which was in turn bonded to your chakra network. I don't really know how to say this, but…"

Anko glared. "Out with it already!" Naruto sighed. "Anko, you've become a Hanyou." Anko's eyes grew wide, her mouth opening and closing silently. "That is not what I was expecting." She said. She shook her head. "But, at least I'm alive. And I have you to thank for that." She leaned forward, kissing Naruto on the cheek. "Now, let's get some breakfast. I'm starving!"

After they had eaten, Naruto lead Anko outside. "We need to figure out what you can do." He said to Anko. Zabuza and Haku were watching nearby, leaning against a tree. "Let me see your hands." He said to her. Anko held out her hands, and Naruto observed them closely. "Anko, see if you can excrete that liquid again." Anko concentrated for a moment, and soon the liquid was flowing out of her claws. It fell on the ground, sizzling.

Naruto nodded to himself. "This is amazing. You must have picked up traits of the Onigumo. See if you can excrete it from your teeth, too." Anko tried, and sure enough, she was able to produce the liquid from her fangs as well. Naruto took a sample of the liquid, and performed his diagnostic jutsu on it.

Anko looked at him strangely. "So, what's the deal?" Naruto looked up, grinning. "This seems to be an extremely concentrated version of the Onigumo venom. But it's different, too. This is acidic, and it has properties I've never seen before. You'll need to experiment with it, see what you can do before I can get a better picture of it."

Anko nodded. She raised her hand, and the acid began to drip from her fingers. She flung her hand towards a tree, acid flying through the air. The acid hit the tree and burned right through it, toppling the tree. Anko had a huge grin on her face. "Oh, this is gonna be so much fun." She said.

Zabuza whistled. "Damn, I'd hate to be on the wrong end of that." Naruto said, "So, I'm guessing your senses have improved?" Anko nodded, "Yeah, everything seems much clearer." "I'm guessing your body has undergone other changes as well. I'd say you're probably stronger and faster than you were before, also. What would you say to a quick spar?"

Anko grinned. "Bring it, foxy!" "Zabuza, start us off." Naruto said, setting his coat and sword aside. Zabuza nodded, moving between the two. He raised his arm up in the air. "Begin in 3, 2, 1…go!" he shouted as he brought his arm down.

Anko wasted no time, throwing a wave of acid at Naruto. Naruto raised his arm, and a wall of water met the acid, creating a large cloud of steam. They both dove into the cloud, meeting each other with a punch. Their fists connected, creating a shockwave that blew away the steam. Anko shook her hand, smirking. "You still punch hard, but I can handle it now." She rushed at Naruto, slinging wave after wave of acid at him. He met each wave with blasts of fire, until Anko finally reached him. He ducked under a punch, attempting to sweep Anko's legs out from underneath her, but she jumped over it, going higher into the air than she had expected. As she came down, Naruto jumped up to meet her, the two of them colliding in midair. They grappled for a moment, and Anko sunk her fangs into Naruto's forearm, her venom destroying his muscle tissue. They landed apart from each other, Naruto watching as the poison eroded his arm. He called his sword to him, and in one quick movement, lopped off the appendage. He threw the severed arm at Anko, startling her, and she flinched for a moment. That was all it took for Naruto to pounce on her, pinning her to the ground with a kunai at her throat. She sighed, and accepted Naruto's hand, pulling herself up. When she got to her feet, she was surprised to see that it was the same arm that Naruto had amputated.

"What the hell? Didn't you just cut that off?" Anko asked, shocked. Naruto grinned. "Regeneration." Anko shook her head. "Damn, that's useful. Can I do that?" Naruto nodded. "To a lesser extent, yes. But remember, you're only a Hanyou. You're only a little harder to kill than a human. But you will be able to heal from most injuries, as long as they don't kill you outright." Anko shrugged. "Good enough, I guess."

As they walked back into the house, Naruto turned to Anko, saying, "So, you seem awfully calm to learn that you're only part human now." Anko shrugged. "I've spent years being hated by almost everyone in Konoha, just because my sensei turned out to be a traitorous bastard. If they hate me that much as a human, I figure it can't get much worse."

Naruto frowned. "So you're not going to hide what you are?" Anko snorted. "Kid, if I started caring what people thought of me just because of this, I'd have to kick my own ass. Besides, you don't hide."

Naruto chuckled. "I pretty much have to when I'm in Konoha. If anyone besides the Hokage knew what I was, they'd piss themselves in fear. Actually, I kinda want to see that." They both laughed at that, walking in to the house and sitting in the kitchen.

Anko looked at Naruto for a moment and smiled. "You know, you shouldn't hide what you are. It isn't fair. You're a good person, Naruto. Human or not." With that, Anko stood and left the room, leaving Naruto with his thoughts.

Things were quiet for the next three days, Naruto keeping watch with Zabuza and Anko. Although Anko kept saying she heard whispers in the back of her head sometimes, nothing of interest had happened recently.

On the morning of the sixth day, Tazuna ran out of the house, yelling, "They're awake! Tsunami and Inari are awake!" Everybody rushed back inside. Sitting at the kitchen table were Tsunami and Inari, both looking good as new. Tsunami stood up, smiling. She walked over to Naruto, saying, "My father told me that it was you who saved me. Thank you, so much." Naruto smiled. "No problem. I'm glad to help."

He turned toward Anko and Zabuza, his face turning serious. "I'm expecting Gato to make his move tomorrow. We'll all go to the bridge, and wait for him to strike." "What about us?" Tsunami asked. "I'll leave some foxes here to guard you and Inari, just in case, though I doubt anyone will come after you." Naruto replied.

Tsunami nodded. "That will be fine, thank you." Naruto nodded, saying to Zabuza, Anko, and Haku, "Well, we should start preparing for tomorrow, though I doubt anything will happen." They all nodded, going off in different directions to prepare in their own ways.

The next morning, they all awoke early, eating a small breakfast before preparing to head to the bridge. Naruto summoned several large foxes, which stood guard outside the house. As Naruto, Anko, Zabuza Haku and Tazuna were walking out the door, Naruto felt a tug on his coat. He turned to see Inari, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and looking up at Naruto. "Are we gonna be safe? He asked.

Naruto nodded. "The foxes will take care of you. You'll be fine, I promise." Inari frowned. "But what if they're not enough?" Naruto knelt down, drawing a kunai from his belt. He grabbed Inari's hand, closing the boy's hand around the knife. "You're a brave kid. Watch over you're mother while we're gone, okay?" Inari nodded. "Thank you." He ran back into the house, clutching the kunai close to him.

Naruto slung his sword over his shoulder, rejoining the others. After a short walk, the arrived to find the bridge covered in mist. Naruto signaled the others to stop, and they all stared out into the mist. Naruto called out, "Gato! Come out here, you piece of shit!"

They heard laughter coming from the mist, followed by a short figure striding towards them. The figure stepped into view, revealing a short balding man, clutching the stump of one hand close to his body. He sneered at them. "So, you are the pathetic worms causing trouble in my country." He spat at the ground in front of him. "I expected more."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, reaching for his sword handle. **"I'll give you more."** He growled, his eyes beginning to glow fiercely. In a split second, he drew his sword and was across the bridge, blade poised to split Gato straight down the middle. He brought the blade down on top of Gato's head, a smile of fierce satisfaction coming over his face.

However, the blade was stopped at the last moment. It was frozen, a hair's breadth away from Gato's head. Suddenly, Naruto was thrown back by a powerful force, landing on his feet several yards away. Gato grinned. "You don't think they warned me about you, Kyuubi? You don't think they were prepared for this? You can't touch me. No one can. I am the ruler of this country! I am the most powerful man in the world, and there is no one who can equal my greatness!" He threw his head back, laughing maniacally.

His laughing was interrupted as a fire encased fist crashed into his gut, sending him rolling along the ground until he finally came to a stop. He looked up in fear, seeing Naruto standing where he himself had been a moment ago, smoke rising from his still outstretched fist, his face a mask of rage. Gato backed away fearfully, stammering, "H-how is this p-possible? There's no w-way you should have been able to touch me!"

Naruto grinned sadistically. "This party's just getting started." He walked towards Gato, who was backing away fearfully, until he hit the side of the bridge, his back pressed against the railing. "No! Stay away from me, you monster!" Naruto reached down towards Gato, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air. "This ends here and now. Too long have you terrorized the citizens of this country. You are scum Gato, and it is for the people of this country that I end your life. Now die."

"Release him."

Naruto froze, the cold, rasping sound of the voice sending shudders throughout his body. He turned to see a man, holding his arms out to either side of his body. In his hands, he held Inari and Tsunami by their throats. "I will say it once more. Release Gato, or these two die."

Naruto opened his hand, letting Gato fall to the ground. He stood shakily to his feet, gasping for breath. He turned to the stranger, shouting, "You said he wouldn't be able to touch me! You told me I'd be safe!"

The stranger turned a disinterested eye towards Gato, before looking away and meeting Naruto's gaze. "It seems the boy is somewhat stronger than we had anticipated." He turned his gaze back on Gato, eyes cold and hard. "There's been a change of plans. You are no longer needed."

Gato's eyes grew wide with fear. "B-but you said-" he was cut off by a glare from the stranger. "As I said, our plans changed. The boy is too strong to take care of now."

The stranger ducked a sudden attack from Naruto, stepping to the side and kicking him away. Naruto flipped in the air, landing on his feet by the others. Naruto growled. "Let them down."

The stranger looked at the two in his hands. "They mean nothing to me." He dropped them on the ground, and raised his hands in front of him. The ground began to shudder, at first a small vibration, but it soon grew to a violent tremor. Anko suddenly grabbed the sides of her heads, letting out a yell of pain. Naruto ran over to her, holding her steady. "What is it? He asked worriedly. "The voices. They're so loud!" Anko yelled.

Suddenly, dozens of onigumo began to pour out of the forest behind them, swarming around them. Naruto ran over to Tsunami and Inari, carrying them back to the others. The onigumo stopped in a circle around them, hissing and clicking. The stranger had walked out over the surface of the water, which was in turmoil from the way the ground was still shaking. He raised his hands above his head, calling out to the heavens, "Come, my servants! Destroy those insignificant fools who oppose me!" suddenly, a gigantic shape began to rise out of the water, the stranger standing on top of it. It revealed itself to be a gigantic onigumo, hundreds of feet tall. The creature reared up on its back legs, crashing back to the ground with crushing force.

Naruto handed off tsunami and Inari to a clone of himself, and summoned a few more as well. He, Anko, Zabuza and Haku stood back-to-back, weapons readied. "It's them." Anko whispered. "I can hear all of them. So many voices…calling…" Anko's arms fell to her sides as her eyes glazed over, and she began walking slowly towards the mass of onigumo.

Naruto grabbed her shoulder as she walked past him. "Anko! What the hell are you doing!" Anko's eyes came back into focus at the sudden contact, and she grabbed her head. "It's them. They're the voices I've been hearing. Kami, there are so many of them." Naruto looked at her with concern. "Can you still fight?" Anko nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

They turned their attention back to the giant onigumo, to see that the cloaked man had vanished. The giant beast began walking towards them, intent on crushing them.

Naruto turned to the others. "Remember, they're naturally armored, so there are only a couple ways to damage them. Their bellies are weak, and so are the joints of their legs. Attack those points, and for the love of Kami, don't get bit!" With that, Naruto vanished, and the onigumo let out an ear-splitting shriek, and began to charge forward.

The onigumo came upon the small group like a wave crashing against a rock. The ninja fought hard, being careful to stay away from the venomous fangs, while Naruto's clones proceeded to wreak a path of carnage through the battlefield. As the battle below began, Naruto reappeared a few hundred feet above the giant onigumo. He began to fall, directing himself towards the behemoth's back. As he fell, he began to spin, creating blades of wind around himself, like a deadly tornado. The speed of his rotations increased until he was no more than a blur, winds howling around him. Naruto crashed into the beast like a giant drill, driving it to the ground and causing it to give out a loud shriek of pain. Naruto hopped off of the beast, landing about thirty feet away, only to be stunned when the giant climbed back into a standing position, seemingly just shrugging the attack off. He cursed to himself. 'Damn! I'm gonna have to use some more power if I'm gonna beat this thing.' From inside his head, he heard Kitane say, 'Just transform already!' Naruto gritted his teeth. 'I didn't want to risk the destruction, but I guess I'll have to. I'll just have to try to keep this battle contained.'

Naruto handed his coat and sword to a clone, which vanished. He closed his eyes, and began to focus. Soon, chakra began to flow off him in waves. Suddenly, his body began to shift and change. He began to get bigger, fur sprouted from his body, and his bones began to reconfigure themselves. The transformation finished, and in Naruto's place was a gigantic red fox several hundred feet taller than the onigumo, nine long tails waving behind it. He let out a gigantic roar, which caused the onigumo to stumble back. Naruto grinned, and said, **"This is more like it!" **He charged forward, shooting white-hot fireballs that impacted like bombs, forcing the beast back further, and causing it to cry out in pain and anger. As Naruto closed in on it, it attempted to sink its fangs into him, but was batted away by one of Naruto's tails. Naruto sunk his fangs into one of the giant's legs, wrenching it clean off. Before the onigumo could react, Naruto wrapped his tails around it and swung it around, smashing it into the ground a couple times before tossing it high in the air with a mighty heave. As the onigumo sailed upwards, a large ball of energy appeared at the tip of each of Naruto's tails. The balls began to grow, and then began to compress, until they were no bigger than a baseball. Naruto aimed all nine of his tails at the still airborne creature, and the energy released with a massive boom that shook the ground. Nine huge beams of destructive energy crashed into the giant onigumo, and exploded with enough force to level a mountain. The onigumo was completely vaporized by the explosion, not a trace of it remaining. Satisfied with his work, he shrunk back down to his regular form.

Naruto went to rejoin the battle, only to find that the battle had halted. When they had seen the explosion, the onigumo had simply stopped moving, and were producing small clicking sounds. Naruto walked up next to Anko. "What's going on?" He asked. Anko shook her head. "I don't know. They're talking about something, but I can't make it out. There are just too many voices."

After a few moments, a single onigumo walked forward. The group tensed, but Anko raised a hand. "Wait! It's not hostile." Zabuza looked at her funny. "How do you know?" "I can sense it." she replied.

The onigumo stopped a few feet away from the group, and produced several more clicks. Anko's brow furrowed. "It wants me to step forward." She walked up to the onigumo stopping in front of it. it was silent for a moment, before speaking in a barely understandable voice, _**"You share our blood. You are strongest. You are Queen."**_ The onigumo lowered its front, seemingly bowing to Anko. The rest of the onigumo did the same, all of them bowing to Anko.

The group's eyes widened. "Did that thing just talk!" yelled Zabuza. "I'm more concerned with what it said." Haku replied.

The onigumo clicked again, and Anko, understanding what it wanted, held her hand out towards it. she rested her palm against the creature's head, and there was a small purple glow that lasted only for a second before fading away. Anko removed her hand, and the onigumo clicked once more before vanishing in a flash of purple light, as did all the others.

"Someone mind explaining what the hell just happened?" Zabuza asked. "They made me their queen." Anko answered. Zabuza nodded. "I see. Well, where'd the hell the go?" Anko shrugged. "They just said they were going to wait until I called upon them." Zabuza shook his head. "Whatever."

He turned to Naruto. "That was a pretty awesome explosion, kid. The shockwave almost knocked us off our feet." Naruto shrugged. "It seemed like the quickest way to get rid of the thing." Anko said, "I wouldn't be surprised if they saw that from Konoha. Speaking of which, word is probably going to spread of the Kyuubi showing up in the middle of Nami." Naruto nodded. "Probably, yeah."

Naruto looked to his clones, which were still guarding Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari. "Are you all alright?" he asked. Tazuna nodded. "We're fine. What about my bridge? You didn't smash it, did you?" Naruto chuckled and shook his head. "No, the bridge is fine. I made sure to keep that thing away from it." Tazuna nodded. "Good."

Suddenly, a large group of villagers, carrying all sorts of homemade weapons, came charging up to the group, only to stop in confusion. One man stepped forward, scratching his head. "Ah, wasn't there supposed to be a battle?" Tazuna shook his head. "You guys missed it. Besides, it was a bunch of demon spider things. You wouldn't have been able to do anything. But thanks anyway."

They all sighed disappointedly. One guy shouted, "Hey, what about Gato?"

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Shit, I almost forgot!" He ran over to the bridge, and saw that Gato was still cowering against the sedge of the bridge. As he saw Naruto, his eyes grew wide with fear. "S-stay back! Demon!" Naruto retrieved his sword and coat from his clone, and continued walking towards Gato. Naruto stood above Gato, who was cowering in a ball on the ground. "Get up, you piece of shit. Face death with some dignity." The short man just whimpered. Naruto rolled his eyes, grabbing Gato by the back of his shirt and dragging the man behind him as he walked back to the group.

Inari, who was now awake, was watching with wide eyes as the man he had feared so much screamed for his life. Naruto stopped in front of Inari, and dropped Gato in front of him. "See, Inari. He's nothing to be afraid of." Gato whimpered as Naruto kicked him in the ribs. Inari stared; shocked that someone he had thought of as invincible could be reduced to begging for his life. "I was wrong." He said quietly. "You are nothing." His face broke out in a huge grin. "You are nothing!" he shouted as he kicked Gato.

Inari felt a tap on his shoulder, and looked up to see Naruto, offering a kunai. "The kill is yours, if you want it." Inari looked unsure. "I don't know if I can…" Tazuna placed a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "Do it for Kaiza." Inari nodded. "For Kaiza." With a yell, Inari plunged the kunai into Gato's chest, piercing his heart and killing him. Gato gurgled for a moment, and spat some blood before his eyes glazed over, and he died.

The group of people cheered, and Inari's family embraced him.

**Finally done. Short chapter, I know, but it felt like a good place to stop. Anyway, I wont be working on this story until I finish my other story, so no updates for a while. Hopefully, it won't take too long. The song for this chapter is Ready to Fall, by Rise Against. So long for now, everybody.**

**Don't Fear The Reaper, **

**Kumo no Shinigami**


	10. Intermission III

**Well, I'm back. I won't bother explaining why I was gone for so long, but I am sorry I just up and disappeared with no warning. I really just kinda lost interest in fan fiction for a while. But my fires have been rekindled, and I'm ready to give you more of what you want. I'll try to update at least semi-regularly, and I should have a new chapter up within a week.**

**Don't Fear the Reaper,**

**Kumo no Shinigami**


	11. Chapter 8

**Took a bit longer than expected, but** **I'm back. If any of you are still interested in this story, thanks for sticking around. There were some things I wasn't satisfied with in this chapter, so I had to rewrite it. **

**Fun fact: Chapter 3 contains exactly 6,666 words. How 'bout that.**

**Previous Chapter:**

_Inari felt a tap on his shoulder, and looked up to see Naruto, offering a kunai. "The kill is yours, if you want it." Inari looked unsure. "I don't know if I can…" Tazuna placed a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "Do it for Kaiza." Inari nodded. "For Kaiza." With a yell, Inari plunged the kunai into Gato's chest, piercing his heart and killing him. Gato gurgled for a moment, and spat some blood before his eyes glazed over, and he died._

_The group of people cheered, and Inari's family embraced him._

**Chapter Eight: Stand Tall**

It was the day after the battle. Tazuna and Naruto were at the bridge with a large group of workers, while Zabuza, Haku, and Anko had all stayed at the house with Tsunami and Inari. Tazuna looked over the group. "With this many people it should only take about a week to complete the bridge." He said cheerfully to Naruto.

Naruto tapped his chin. "How many workers would you need to complete the bridge by the end of the day?" he asked.

Tazuna quirked an eyebrow. It was an odd question, but given all that he had seen in the last week, he wasn't too surprised by it. "By the end of the day? At least a thousand."

Naruto nodded. "We'll call it 1500." He formed a seal, and they were surrounded by a massive cloud of smoke. When it cleared, they were surrounded by Naruto's clones. "Let's get this bridge built!" he yelled. The clones gave an enthusiastic shout, and Tazuna quickly started directing them to different areas of the bridge.

Apart from a few accidents (mostly due to the large number of people on the bridge), construction went smoothly for the rest of the day, and by the time dusk had fallen, the bridge was complete, and the workers had left. With a final victory cheer, Naruto's clones dispelled themselves. Naruto didn't even flinch from the massive intake of information.

Tazuna surveyed the finished bridge with satisfaction. "That went quicker than I rhought it would."

Naruto nodded. "Shadow clones are handy for this kind of thing."

"Well, we'd best get back to the house." Tazuna said with a yawn. "You guys can leave in the morning."

When he and Naruto returned to the house, they were met with the smell of food. They walked in the door to find Tsunami cooking a large dinner on a makeshift stove.

She smiled as they entered. "How's the bridge coming?"

"It's completely finished, thanks to Naruto." Tazuna replied happily.

"So soon?" Tsunami asked with surprise.

"It helps when you have a literal army of workers at your disposal." Naruto said.

Everybody laughed, their recent victories putting them in a good mood.

They ate hearty, and the tone of conversation was light and mirthful. After a couple hours, they decided to get an early start in the morning, and they went to bed. In the morning, Naruto's group made their preparations and said goodbye to Tazuna and his family.

"Make sure to come visit sometime, okay?" Tazuna said while shaking Naruto's hand.

Naruto grinned. "Of course." One of Naruto's clones suddenly appeared in a flash of red light. It handed Naruto two scrolls and dispelled. Naruto handed them to Tazuna. "Here. The larger one contains all of the money from Gato's bank account, as well as everything valuable that was in his hideout. Use it to get your country back on its feet."

Tazuna accepted the scrolls with a look of shock. "You're just giving this to us?"

Naruto shrugged. "It belongs to you anyway."

Tazuna beamed. "I won't forget all you've done for us. All of you."

Naruto turned to Zabuza and Haku. "So, what will you two do now? You're welcome to return to Konoha with us, if you'd like. Or you could always return to Kiri."

Zabuza shook his head. "There's nothing left for me in Kiri. I'll come with you." He turned to Haku. "What about you?"

Haku smiled softly. "I go where you go."

"Then it's settled!" Naruto said cheerfully. "To Konoha!"

After saying their final goodbyes, Zabuza Anko and Haku each placed a hand on Naruto, and they vanished in a flash of red light.

Inari looked fondly at the place where the group had stood. '_I want to be that strong someday._' He thought to himself.

Tazuna suddenly remembered something. "I forgot to ask what was in the second scroll!" he exclaimed.

"Well, open it and find out!" Tsunami chided.

He unfurled the scroll, and saw that Naruto had left a note.

'I went out and bought you some new furniture for your new house. It's a gift, so don't even think of paying me back! Your friend, Naruto.' He had drawn a chibi fox next to the note, flashing a peace sign.

"Damn brat," Tazuna said with a smile, "Didn't even give me a chance to thank him for it."

X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X

Naruto's group appeared in front of Konoha's main gate, startling Izumo and Kotetsu, and making them knock over the house of cards they were building.

Izumo sighed. "This is gonna be a regular thing, isn't it?"

Naruto chuckled at the chunin's reaction. "Yep. Anyway, we're back from our mission."

Regaining his composure, Kotetsu said, "The Hokage wanted to see you as soon as you returned. He'll be in his office."

Naruto nodded. "Thanks." The group of four vanished again.

They reappeared in front of Sarutobi's desk. He looked up. "You could have just used the door."

Naruto shrugged. "Why bother? Anyway, do you want to hear our report or not?"

the last few days, so please, don't spare any of the details."

Naruto took a moment to compose his thoughts, and began his explanation. "It was a normal mission until we were attacked by the two Kiri nukenin, the Demon Brothers. I killed them quickly, and Tazuna explained his country's situation and why there were ninja after him. We decided to continue the mission, and that's when I sent my clone to you. After that there weren't any problems until after we made it to Nami.

"A while after we arrived in the country, Momochi Zabuza and his student Haku, the two who are here with Anko and I, attempted to assassinate Tazuna. I traveled with them for a while a few years ago, so when we recognized each other, they gave up their contract with Gato and decided to help us protect Tazuna. We made it to Tazuna's house, and spent the rest of the day training. While we were out, the house was attacked and Tazuna's daughter was missing. Anko and I went into the forest to search, leaving Zabuza and Haku, as well as several of my foxes, to guard Tazuna.

In the forest, we discovered signs of an onigumo colony, and theorized that since they were hostile despite sensing my distinct youki, they must have been controlled by someone else. When we returned to the others, they were being attacked by a small group of onigumo. A while after they were defeated, we discovered that Tazuna's grandson had been poisoned by one of the onigumo. Once again, Anko and I went into the forest to find the onigumo's nest.

"We successfully infiltrated the nest, killed the queen, obtained its venom, and rescued Tazuna's daughter, as well as destroying the nest and the onigumo that were inside it. However, while escaping, Anko was poisoned by one of the onigumo, while I still only had enough of the venom to treat one person. We decided to give the antidote to Tazuna's grandson, and I used my youki to extract the poison from Anko's bloodstream, containing it where it had already caused too much damage to safely remove.

"As a result of this, some of my youki bonded with the venom, which in turn bonded to Anko's chakra network, turning her into a hanyou with onigumo traits, such as the ability to produce acidic venom and a telepathic link with the onigumo colony, who seem to have selected her as their new leader.

"A few days later we all went to the bridge to guard Tazuna, and found Gato waiting for us. He had been imbued with some sort of power, and was able to withstand one of my attacks. However, he was quickly overpowered. As I was about to finish him, a mysterious stranger intervened, holding Tazuna's family hostage. From some of the records I found in Gato's hideout, this man was apparently named Shimura."

Sarutobi's eyes widened. "You mean-"

Naruto shook his head. "No, it wasn't Danzo. If Danzo had that much power, I'd have noticed it the moment I saw him. Things like that are not easily hidden from me. And whatever this guy was, he definitely wasn't human."

"Anyway," Naruto continued, "I had no choice but to release Gato. When I did, Shimura dropped Tazuna's family and summoned a gigantic onigumo, as well as several hundred regular sized ones. When the battle began, Shimura had vanished. I transformed and quickly defeated the giant one, while Zabuza Anko and Haku along with a few of my clones held of the rest.

"After the defeat of the large one, the others fell silent, and began to communicate amongst themselves. After a few moments, one of them stepped forward and they seemingly proclaimed their loyalty to Anko. After that, we finished off Gato, I cleaned out his hideout and bank account, Zabuza and Haku decided to return to Konoha with us, and the whole village partied until they couldn't stand. Any questions?"

Sarutobi massaged his temples. "I suppose a little normalcy is too much to ask for these days. Do you have any idea what became of this Shimura person?"

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know, but I have a feeling we'll see him again. He seemed interested in me."

Sarutobi sighed. "Well, I suppose there's nothing we can do for now. I'll have Jiraiya tell his spies to look for any information on the matter." He turned his attention to Zabuza and Haku. "I assume you two wish to join our ranks?"

The two nodded. "Yes sir," Zabuza replied respectfully. "I'm a capable jounin, and Haku is between chunin and jounin level."

Sarutobi nodded. "Very well. Since Naruto has vouched for you, I will allow you to join the village while retaining your previous rank. However, Haku, since you were never an officially registered ninja, you will have to begin at genin rank. The chunin exams are in a few months, and you will have a shot at promotion then. Are these terms acceptable?"

Both Zabuza and Haku agreed quite readily.

Sarutobi smiled with satisfaction. "Good. Now, since the two of you have experience with Naruto, I think it would be best if you joined his and Anko's team. Naruto, you and Haku will still compete in the Chunin Exams separately, due to your strength being far above that of a genin, but other than that, you will function as a regular four-man team. And I believe a new team deserves a new name. As of now, the four of you will officially be known as Team Oni."

The four of them grinned wickedly (apparently Naruto and Zabuza's personalities had rubbed off on Haku somewhat). "Perfect." They said in unison.

**And there it is. Took longer than expected, and it's a little short, but at least it's something. Expect more, but I definitely won't be giving myself any deadlines. Doing that just adds unnecessary pressure and makes writing seem more like work than fun. I'll also be posting the first three chapters of another story, just test the waters, so to speak, and see if anybody is responsive to the changes in my writing. The chapters will be shorter and the pacing will be somewhat slower, so there won't be too much crammed into one chapter. Anyway, I've already got those three chapters written, so I'll be posting them at the same time as this one.**

**The song for this chapter is Sand Tall by The Dirty Heads.**

**Don't Fear the Reaper, **

**Kumo no Shinigami**


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